M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Twists and turns!
Anyway, this cake is great
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FreshStart
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Part 6: Trading Issues
Michaelis Thanis was lying awake, listening to the snores of his animal companion, Bernini. It was so late he knew he should try to sleep, but he just couldn’t let things go. Hearing his phone buzz and seeing it light up, he reached over and checked the screen which read, “Control Freak”. While the little dog continued snoring on the floor, Mick did a quick time zone calculation then answered.
“Hey Princess, what’s up? You OK?”
“Yes, I’m fine, but I found something stupid—something Really, Really, Stupid.”
Very early the next morning, Jesse Patterson was looking over his screens to gauge the lay of the markets and abruptly stopped. Pecking at his keyboard, he confirmed what he had seen, and sat back in his chair. After chewing a thumbnail for some minutes he located a number on his cell phone and wrote it on a sticky. Peeling off the note, he stood up, locked his cell phone in a drawer and briskly made his way through the office and down the elevator. Expertly, he made his way through Toronto’s underground PATH and popped out across from 120 Adelaide Street. He crossed into the building and picked up one of the few public payphones left in the banking core.
Forty-five minutes later, Matt was floored. He and Mick were hiding at the back of the Second Cup coffee shop under the Bank of Nova Scotia. If anyone came in, they would have to LOOK for them up on the raised section and around the corner.
“A TYPO?” Matt spluttered.
“Sh. A typo,” Mick confirmed. “The news feed had all sorts of bad news about a company called the Dryden Housing Union but at the end of the article, the stock ticker was listed as ‘DHI’ not ‘DHU’. It mistakenly identified the stock in question as Dominion Heavy Industries. I do typos like that all the time. On my stupid phone, I’m always fighting with ‘I’ and ‘U’. A correction was sent later in the news feed, so we’ll have to look into how HERMES it.”
Matt mulled it over. “AME considered selling Dryden Housing Union ‘short’ based on the bad news but was using the ticker symbol of Dominion Heavy Industry instead. It then looked up the trading volume and price history, and found DHI was well worth putting in play—based on the wrong news. Shit. Well, it’s a project in itself to try and figure out how to unravel something similar like this in the future. We have to do it carefully since we have so many positions in play; AME is constantly balancing and measuring.” [Selling short is a method of selling a stock by borrowing it then buying it back when the price goes down. Sell high, buy low. It strongly assumes the price of the stock will go down, because if the price goes up, you lose money.] He looked hard at Mick. “How on earth did you find this?”
“I didn’t. Our favorite Control Freak did.”
“My God,” Matt shook his head in wonder. “The time she must have put into it.”
“Meh. It just kept her away from watching the soaps and from killing her mother and grandmother in their sleep,” Mick replied. Then he parodied the Lizzie Borden poem:
“Mel Rougier in searching facts,
“Isn’t giving Mommy forty whacks”
“That reminds me,” he mused. “She still has my camping hatchet.” Then the man with the short, grey beard looked into Matt’s face and asked, “Do you trust me?”
“I guess. Sure. Why?”
“Between just us, I can’t tell you.”
Matt looked puzzled but said, “Okay. What do I have to trust you about?”
“We do nothing about the widow-maker trade itself. We don’t unravel that trade; we leave the money on the table and let it ride.”
“WHAT?”
“Easy. We keep working full tilt to ensure future problems don’t happen and if they do, we can back them out. We just SAY we’re working on fixing that particular trade to keep the nervous-nanny partners off our backs.”
Matt took a deep breath and shrugged. “Sure. I mean, okay. But, where are you getting this?”
Mick clearly carefully weighed what to say before answering, “Let’s say, it’s better if you don’t know. I take full and sole responsibility for…” He paused. “…something. We never had this part of the conversation.”
Matt’s gut was already hurting as he was still waiting for Jules to drop a bomb on him, this made it worse. On the way back to the office, Matt saw he had a message from Mel. The subject was ‘nonmonogamous relationship’! He stopped and immediately opened it. Of course, it was nothing like he thought it was. There was a link to an article called, ‘what-a-nonmonogamous-relationship-is-really-like-and-why-ill-never-do-it-again’. He should have known.
++++
When Matt got home, he was pleasantly surprised to see Jules was already there. She’d spent an entire night at Steven’s place, “Because he really needs some attention.” She was already busy in the kitchen and there was a glass of white wine on the island beside her. Matt sat down without a word to watch her. With a kiss on the cheek, she placed a glass of sparkling wine in front of him. With a pang, he remembered Mick’s comment about Mel being the world’s expert in champagne.
“Oh, thanks,” he said. “What is it?”
“The guy at the store recommended a Spanish thing with a brownish label. I know you like your bubbles these days.” Segura Viudas, thought Matt.
“So, how was your day?” he asked in a slightly ironic tone.
“Good—all good,” she replied, not picking up on his irony and turning to continuing her work.
Matt picked up the glass and just before it touched his lips asked, “How’s Steven?”
Matter-of-factly, she replied, “Oh, he’s awesome as always.”
“You spent extra time together after the other night, is he okay?”
“Yes, no problem, you know him. He put on an awesome show for me that night and he didn’t hurt Ada.”
Matt bit his tongue about who got hurt, then tried to pick at what bothered him most, “How is Adrianna?” He couldn’t really ask Jules if she was leaving him.
“Oh, she’s terrific,” Jules said with visible enthusiasm. “We’ve our amazing new costumes for our silks routine.” She looked at Matt and smiled. “Now we want to do a performance as soon as possible, so we’re going to enter the ‘Move with the Beats’ competition in London. We’ll have to figure out how we’ll get there, and if we’ll stay over. I hope you can come to watch.” London was over two hours away by car, or over three by bus or train.
“Depends on work,” he replied. “I’d really like to see it. Don’t they a make a video of everything?”
She served the food and sat down across from her husband. “Yes, they always do and I’ll want one anyway. The show will end late, so we’ll have to stay out overnight.” She paused and then said, “There is something I wanted to talk about.”
Here it comes, thought Matt, steeling himself.
Jules played with her food and didn’t look at Matt, “You’ve mentioned about ‘growing up’ a couple of times. Ada’s brother is doing work in fertility at Mount Sinai Hospital and he’s offered us free consulting.” She looked up, reached across and took Matt’s hand. “We can get some help and start that family.”
Surprised, Matt said, “Do we need help? Is now the right time?”
Jules laughed, “Whoa! You’re the one who kept pressing me about growing up, Mister. And if we didn’t need help, something would have already happened by now.” Her eyes twinkled at him.
Matt took a bite of dinner to think. “I’d like a little time to get this problem at work sorted out. And…what about Steven? Are you sure you’re talking to your preferred sperm donor?”
The hand was removed. “Now you’re being a shit,” said Jules. “Will it take giving birth to your baby for you to realize you’re my one-and-only husband?” Matt almost asked how ‘Uncle Stevie’ would react to living with their baby, but he had pretended not to have heard her say anything about that.
She took Matt’s hand again. “Normand’s really busy and he’s offering us a consultation Thursday. Let’s talk to him. Can it hurt?” Trapped, Matt agreed as a way of putting it off.
++++
Jesse Patterson looked up as his boss walked into the office, closed the door and sat down.
“Jesse,” started the other man, “I want to talk to you about this short trade.”
“I appreciate the concern Marc, but you’ll see that the amount of that trade falls directly under my personal authority.” He smiled as sweetly as he could.
“The trade itself is, but your losses would still affect everyone else overall.”
“I appreciate that as well, but I’m still selling Dominion Heavy Industries short.” Again he smiled, wanting to end this conversation.
The other man shook his head. “I think this is our very first short sell, and you’re shorting DHI of all possible stocks? For the love of God, why?”
“Let’s just say, I’m trying out a new trading approach.”
++++
On Thursday, Matt entered the hospital lobby early. It was a perfect day for a walk and he’d taken the opportunity to go up University Avenue to help clear his head, and his gut. Feeling quite relaxed he looked up the escalator wondering which way Normand’s office was. He froze. At the top, he spotted Julia, Adrianna and a man he’d never seen before. All three looked very comfortable with each other and two were saying goodbye to Adrianna. The man hugged her, and then Jules hugged and kissed her. Then Adrianna said something and Jules and the man looked at each other, looked back at Adrianna and laughed. Then they embraced and shared a quick kiss. Matt had no idea what to think of it and quickly backed up and pushed through the revolving door out to the sidewalk.
Outside, Matt tried to work through what he’d seen. The man must have been Adrianna’s brother. Jules could have met him when she went to the cottage that weekend. But the familiarity, the closeness, left Matt wondering what the relationship between the man and his wife truly was. The three were ending a meeting before the meeting with Matt. What were they meeting about? The embrace, the kiss…fuck, was someone ELSE bonking his wife?
Matt stuck close to the building and waited as Adrianna came out, walked to the curb, hailed a cab and headed south. He watched the time and waited until he was a bit late, then he re-entered the building.
Sometime later, Normand Charlès, the man who’d kissed Jules in the hospital lobby, explained, “So, my new technique virtually guarantees insemination. We will take a sample from you, Mr. Adams, but no matter the finding, there will be ways for us to recover sufficient material to inject into Mrs. Adam’s ovum—her egg. As soon as she is ovulating again, we do the procedure and get your family started! Do you have any questions?”
Matt struggled to pretend some enthusiasm in front of Julia. He had no questions. He didn’t want to be there.
“You were saying this is no cost to us,” said Matt.
“Correct,” said the other man. He had a faint French accent. “I’m told that here, normal costs for intracytoplasmic sperm injection—or ‘ICSI’ which is directly injecting an ovum with one live sperm—are anywhere from $10,000 to $17,000. And I must point out that the typical success rate is 44 per cent for women between 18 and 34, so multiple rounds of treatment are not unusual.”
“The government now covers some infertility treatment, doesn’t it?” asked Matt.
“True, they will pay for three cycles of in vitro fertilization, which is part of this, but not the medication and only for women with bilateral blocked fallopian tubes. Mrs. Adams does not suffer from this problem.”
Matt was startled, “How do you know?”
The other man shifted in his seat slightly, “We have already obtained information from Mrs. Adams’ gynecologist. Going back to costs, with this new procedure, there will be the added costs of the DNA collection, isolation, combination and packaging.”
Matt looked at Jules and thought, she’s already gone ahead with some of this or they wouldn’t have her file. “So how do you avoid these costs?”
“This can be ‘hidden’, if you will, as research. We are fully funded and even though we are moving to making this a public offering, we can do this for you free of charge.” His eyes, not for the first time, shifted quickly to Julia. Matt was convinced there was something else going on that no one was telling him. Then Normand said, “Let’s say, I’m also doing this as a favor for my sister.”
There it was again—Adrianna was participating in this meeting, even though she had driven away in a cab. What was going on?
“Next steps?” asked Matt, almost by reflex.
“Well, we will take a sample from you today. As I said, we will evaluate your semen but it will be purely following standard procedures. Traditional in vitro fertilization would then be adapted based on the results, but we will move straight to the ‘Charlès method’, which is virtually guaranteed—assuming we harvest a healthy ovum.” He proudly smiled. “Then, once we have the paperwork together, we can take another sample from you and start processing it. We will continue to monitor Julia’s cycle and harvest what ova become available.”
“Continue to monitor?” asked Matt. There it was again. “You said, ‘continue to monitor’ Jules.”
Normand looked surprised. His eyes shifted to Julia. “Well…what I mean by that is…ah…well…as you know she’s…ah… already mentioned that she’s been off her oral contraceptives...ah…that her cycle is regular and…ah…when she last menstruated.”
Gotcha again! Thought Matt, we haven’t mentioned all of that in this meeting. What’s going on?
He looked at his phone. “Oh, look at the time. Are we about done here?”
Julia looked unhappy.
“Well,” said Normand, “If we can get a sample from you now, and your signatures on these, we’ll be done for today.” He indicated a folder in front of him. “Then we’ll coordinate another sample from you with harvesting from Julia. In the interim, I recommend an ejaculation frequency of every 2-to-5 days to optimize sperm production. We have various means to create the injection package, but a good-sized ejaculation sample is always best.”
After much embarrassed joking, Jules and Matt were left alone in a room. They had a container, Matt’s pants were half off and Julia had her hand around his limp penis. The room had a surprising collection of erotic DVDs and magazines, but all Matt could think of was the number of men who had been here to ‘do their duty’. It wasn’t a recipe for successful romance.
“I have to think about this,” said Matt as he tried to think of a good reason to postpone.
“But, Baby, this is exactly what you wanted. You know we had ample opportunity to have an accident in the past and nothing happened. This is free and it’s pretty-much guaranteed.” She was getting exasperated with Matt’s reluctant organ.
“This is the first I’ve heard of it, I just need to do my own due diligence. Isn’t it best to be sure?”
Julia reluctantly nodded. “Yes. Tense, Baby?” she asked. “Relax.” She sat beside Matt, still playing with his flaccid member. Leaning into her husband, she asked, “Do you want to look at your phone?” He shook his head, trying to resist.
She started talking in a husky whisper into his ear. “Think back at our adventures in playing—they were all about love, curiosity and…hot…sex. Remember? It has never really been about me fucking another man in front of you, right? It was about me doing it for you.” Matt thought: Did that really mean falling in love too? Then remembered it actually did. Jules continued, “Did you see the neighbor’s son the other day?” Matt nodded. “He’s turning into quite the hunk—a really big boy.” She popped the b’s right into Matt’s ear. “I was thinking of helping him out. You know, I haven’t made a boy into a man for quite a while—I want to help him with his virginity.” She emphasized virginity. “Wouldn’t it be hot if I was his first? I’d start with a hand-job, just like this one. I’d wear something sexy and slowly pump him up-and-down. Up-and-down. He’s never had that done before and he’d think I was sooooo sexy. In no time, he’d come all over my wedding ring. Then another day, I could give him a treat and put my lips around him.” She leaned down and gently blew on Matt and knew he was getting hard. She moved back to his ear.
“Later, I’d let him watch me rub myself. As I worked my clit, he’d get hard. That cock would look sooo big that I’d cum all over my hand. I’d wrap my hand, wet and slick with my own pussy juice, around his huge dick and slowly pump. Up-and-down. Just…like…this.” She made sure Matt knew what she was talking about.
“Later, I’d make you go down on me as I described how I would fuck him. Then, on his birthday, I could take his virginity. I’d have sex with him and make you watch. You’d sit in the corner and I’d suck on him until he was huge. I’d lick that gorgeous thing all along its length. It’s so beautiful that I’d give it a little kiss, right at the end. Then he’d lick slowly up-and-down my slit to get me ready. I’d be teaching him to be a real stud for women and he’d be sooo gooood and he’d get me sooo wet. Then, I’d guide him into my dripping pussy. He is huge, Baby. He stretches me sooo much. God, he feels incredible, so big, so much of a man. I’d cry out as he went deeper and deeper, touching me in places you’d never be able to reach.” She knew it was just a matter of time.
“My first orgasm would hit just from him putting it in me, Baby. Right as he parted my pussy lips. I get so hot seeing you helpless as he fucks me. He feels incredible. Kiss me Baby; kiss me while he fucks me.” With a finger under his chin, Julia turned Matt’s head and slid her tongue into his mouth.
She withdrew and continued, “I’d cum and cum and cum until he started to get close. You know I’m off my pills. He’s bareback because it feels sooooo goooood and I can’t control myself. You get hard because you can’t help it and you start stroking yourself. As he cums, I cross my ankles behind him and pull him deeeep into my throbbing pussy. Then as you spill your tiny load on the floor, I will cum again because of his length, his girth and oh my God, that huge load of his cum. That cum was made inside his body, Baby, and it’s now inside my body. His insides are now inside me and it’s as if we have touched each other on some special level. He’s a man now and I feel like I could love him, Baby. It’s like I’m fused to his cock forever. He’s sooo manly that with just one try, I’m now carrying his baby. I have a man now and he’s one I’ve made. God, he’s so special. You get so hot kissing my swelling belly, knowing…” This was taking too long. Remembering an earlier night, she decided to take another direction.
“…knowing I’m now pregnant, pregnant by my own young, hung stud and you’re all over me. But that’s just the start. Once I’ve had his baby, we’ll go out to a bar and we’ll take another woman with us.” Unbeknownst to Jules, Mel had entered Matt’s mind. Julia’s hand felt the change and she was slightly disappointed, she wasn’t going to identify the other woman as ‘Ada’. “She’s strong and dominant. You get hard when she starts making out with me in public. Everyone sees her dominance over me and everyone sees us kissing. My stud, my man, whispers something to her and she puts her hand between my legs with everyone watching. Baby, she’s finger-fucking me. Oh, my god, she gets me going. Her hand comes out of my dripping pussy and she slowly sucks her fingers. You’re hard. Soooo haaaaard...”
She had him. As Matt envisaged fingers slick with pussy juices sliding into Mel’s bee-sting lips, he came and Jules scrambled to collect it. She felt complete satisfaction that she still had power to excite Matt and make him cum—not knowing about Melissa’s contribution.
Once they’d cleaned up, Matt slipped out through the second door.
“Matt! Where are you going?” called Jules.
“Gotta run back to work. I told you, I have a big problem AND I have to do proper due diligence about this fertility stuff.” And he was gone.
“Matt! The papers!” she called as he disappeared.
When Matt got back to the office Mick was at his own desk.
“We’ve been joined in shorting DHI,” Mick casually said to his screen.
“No way!”
“Check the short interest data yourself. The problem is, the stock hasn’t moved down. We may have company in our misery, but that’s it right now.”
“Shit, it’s still a waiting game then.”
“Yup. But HERMES doesn’t look so…alone. That at least takes pressure off us, otherwise management was ready to pull the plug on this and all short trades—which, frankly, might be a good idea.”
That’s when Jacobs showed up. “Can I see both of you for a moment?” asked the senior partner.
Once in his office, with the door closed, he was short, “This morning we had the quarterly earnings conference call with Dominion Heavy Industries.” Four times a year, companies have conference calls to highlight successes or calm fears. Those on the call typically are institutional investors (like pension funds), individual investors and corporate analysts. “The news was as expected and I suspect there will be continued agreement that Dominion is a buy. I just wanted you to be aware of this as soon as possible. Mick has done a good job keeping all the partners content with how things are going.”
“Don’t wake the sleeping baby, is my motto,” said Mick.
“And my fellow partners can certainly be babies,” chuckled the partner. “What can you tell me?”
“Matt’s working on eliminating short trades, and all trades are getting a manual review,” said Mick.
“Overall AME is well above target,” Matt chimed in. “And that includes the costs of that trade. As Mick suggested, we’re going to put short-sells on hold until we see how this plays out.”
“I think,” replied Jacobs, “We need to redefine what HERMES is doing.” Mick smiled at that. “We never thought,” continued Jacobs, “that this would be such an aggressive trading model. We want high returns for large pockets.”
“You don’t like giving customers coronaries?” asked Mick. They all chuckled. “However, the days of the widows-and-orphans funds are over, Austin.” Matt’s head snapped to look at Mick. No one ever called Jacobs by his first name.
“I suspect you’re right, Michaelis,” replied Jacobs. “The days of many things are over. Orderly world trade may be one.”
++++
Julia conspicuously stopped sending NSFW messages. Making sure I don’t waste a load, thought Matt. He avoided ‘The Subject’ with Julia, much to his wife’s consternation. At one point he found an envelope in front of him at dinner. When he opened it, he found the papers he was supposed to sign and a report about his sample. Ignoring the other papers he skimmed the report…‘total motile sperm count’…‘morphology’…‘liquefaction’. It didn’t sound promising. He put the package on the table and looked at Jules.
“So, you see, we need Normand’s help,” she flatly said. Then in a demanding tone said, “Now, will you please sign those papers?”
Matt sighed. “Jules, I told you, I have so much pressure at work and no time. I really want to look into this thing. Yes, you know them, yes you’re sure. But I know nothing about them and it might be…”
His wife abruptly got up, walked briskly down the hall and slammed the bedroom door. Matt didn’t immediately run after her, but he didn’t wait long enough to make it look like he didn’t care. When he entered the bedroom he found Julia on the bed, hugging a pillow, still dressed, looking empty.
“Jules...”
“I get it, I really do,” she said, interrupting him. “I get that you gave me bullshit about growing up—about starting a family. Was it a ploy just to get me to drop Steven? Is that what it was all about? You were trying to make me choose? What if I gave up on you, with your ‘due diligence’, and got Steven’s help? Is that what you want?” She finally took a breath and with a catch in her voice said, “What the fuck DO you want Matt? I don’t know anymore!”
Matt sat on the bed beside his wife and put an arm around her. “Right now, I really do want some time Jules. I do want to grow up. But the pressure’s been…” he couldn’t think a word to describe it.
Julia felt her husband’s pain and her posture softened. She turned to her husband and touched his cheek. “Oh, my poor Baby,” she said. “And that bitch of a wife isn’t giving you any peace, is she?”
Matt smiled weakly, truly feeling sorry for his wife. “I get your confusion, your frustration. It’s just, I have to do things, one at a time. Think them through properly. Right now, this isn’t what I’m concentrating on; I can’t, I don’t have time.”
Julia cradled him, feeling better. She believed she had just heard him confirm that it was going to happen—just not right now. She kissed his head. “Hey,” she whispered. “I’m on a bed with my sexy husband. What’s with all these clothes?”
The tender session that followed surprised Matt. Jules concentrated on him, getting him aroused, building with a slow, continuous burn. She was careful not to get him to come with her teasing and her foreplay. There was only going to be one end for him. At the crucial moment, she reached into the nightstand and pulled out a foil package. It was one he hadn’t seen before and he looked at her questioningly.
“It’s one from Normand,” she explained, then she rolled into onto Matt’s throbbing dick and she rode him and rode him until he exploded. She then waited, entwined with her husband, until he was almost asleep. Then she very carefully pulled him out, unsheathed him and padded to the kitchen.
+++
Exactly three nights later, Matt got home quite late. He’d already explained to Julia that the team were doing some testing after the markets closed. The door was open to an empty master, but the guestroom door was closed. The kitchen light was still on and he wandered in to turn it off. Conspicuous, on the otherwise empty island, was a bottle of baby lotion, a lighter, a safety pin and an empty condom foil. Curious, he picked up the package and noted it was a ‘magnum’ size…and that it had expired over a year ago. Odd.
Matt heard a door close. After turning off the kitchen light, he went to his bedroom again passing the closed guestroom door. Wearing nothing but a smile, Julia was waiting for him doing a ‘cheesecake pose’ on the bed.
“Hey, Baby,” she cooed. “Another rough day? Let Mommy make it better for you.” She got up, slowly stripped her husband slid into bed with him and put on a clinic. Starting with her hand on his cock and her mouth on his nipples, moving to using her mouth on his cock and finally sheathing the cock and mounting it, Julia concentrated on giving her husband intense pleasure.
Matt was lost in enjoyment and the stress-free holiday when Julia quietly said in an impish voice, “Did you see my pregnancy kit?” Matt opened his eyes, stared at her and said nothing. “Did you see the condom package?” He nodded. “Well,” she continued as she rode the stiff cock, “I read about it on a blog. See, you take one expired condom in the package, heat it a bit with a lighter and then prick it a few times with a pin.” Getting into her story and her motion, she closed her eyes and her breathing changed. “Then take it out, fill it with baby oil, leave it for a while,” she paused her movement and leaned down. She kissed her husband, sucked thumb and forefinger of each hand and started playing with Matt’s nipples. Then she leaned forward again, ran her warm, wet tongue over his lips and whispered into his open mouth. “Then put it on one huge, throbbing, gorgeous piece of man-meat and ride it like I’m riding you right now. When the bough breaks, the condom will fall and out will come spermies, baby and all…”
For Matt, something snapped, his face hardened and he grabbed his wife’s hips and a tussle of wills began. Man and wife both tried to dictate the pace of intercourse. He was stronger, but she had the advantage of the high ground. The thrusting became more and more violent. In frustration, the man used his strength to push the woman to the side and flip the couple over. He re-positioned himself, lifted up on his arms and shoved his cock back into the woman as hard and as fast as he could. It all came tumbling into his mind: the trade, Steven, Jules games, getting smacked around by Adrianna, Mel. Yes, Mel. Nothing was going his way. Nothing seemed to be under his control. Nothing was HIS choice. Well, fuck her! He would damned well control this! With the added energy of anger he began to piston and thrust as hard as far and as fast as he possibly could.
“Is this what you want?” he said through clenched teeth. “Is it? Is it? Are you going to have a baby and make sure it won’t be mine? Cum! Cum you fucking bitch! Cum on me!”
The change in the woman’s breathing indicated his coming victory. She pushed her head back and grinned until she squealed her climax. He shoved himself in as far as he could and he held it, feeling the spasms, feeling the power. But he didn’t cum—he wouldn’t cum. There was no fucking way that he’d give her that satisfaction. Then he fiercely yanked himself out of the woman, tore off the condom, threw it somewhere and marched naked to the guestroom.
When he got there, he grabbed the knob, turned it and threw his entire weight against the door. Then stood there, perplexed, looking into an empty bedroom and a bed that looked like it had never been used. He stood panting, feeling the pulse in his temples, coming down from the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins. Slowly, his breathing started to return to normal, he started feeling cool and he suddenly felt tired.
Matt returned to the bed and sat down with his back to his wife. “What the fuck was that all about?”
He felt the woman’s arms go around him from behind. In a quiet voice she said, “I just wanted to see how good it might be after growing up.” She kissed his back. “And I wanted to see if you really wanted a baby. Do you, Baby?”
He took a deep breath. “I want a family and that family will need a mother.” Looking over his shoulder at Jules he asked, “Is that you?”
She kissed the side of his face and said, “Maybe I’ll redefine the meaning of ‘mother’. You were amazing. I’ve never cum on you like that before.” Then mischievously she asked, “Who were you looking for down the hall?”
“Who else? Your work husband—who apparently can get into my home whenever he wants.”
She laid her face on his back. “I’m sorry. He took the keys before I could talk to you about it and I couldn’t ask for them back. It will only be for a week. Ada’s gone to France, so there should be no drama.”
“Very nice, you worry how SHE’LL take it, not me. Fine, I’ll go to the concierge tomorrow and I’ll tell them he has access for seven more days. After that, even if he sneaks past them, he won’t be able to use the elevator. Listen to me: I want to know, in advance, every fucking minute he’ll be in my home. Then on day eight, I will have the key and the fob in my hand.”
He couldn’t see the look on her face, but he heard her quiet voice and felt her mouth on his back say, “OK.”
Remembering That Night with Adrianna, he asked, “What aren’t you telling me, Julia?”
He felt her stiffen and there was a long pause. It was so long, Matt turned his head to look at her. She had her mouth open as if to say something, but nothing was coming out.
Eventually she said, “I wish I could explain it, I wish I could tell you.” She hugged him harder. “In a few weeks you’ll hear something. I promise.” After a pause, Jules hands started roaming over Matt’s chest. “You still haven’t cum, Baby.” She kissed his back and said, “Doctor’s orders.”
Later, once again she waited until Matt was asleep before she removed the condom and walked to the kitchen.
+++
After work the next day, while Julia was changing, and Matt was still at work, Steven Spears looked into the Adam’s fridge. He saw an odd container, took it out and opened it. WTF? Julia entered the room and turned her back to the man. “Zip me up?”
Steven waved the container at her. “Yuck! What the hell is this doing in the fridge?” The woman turned and had a sharp intake of breath.
“Oh,” she said in obvious, embarrassed confusion. “Well, that’s…ah…that’s…”
“You’re not going to train Matty to eat his own cum or something are you?”
He missed the quick sequence that passed over her face, before she said, “…ah…yes. I thought…ah…it would be a good way to get him used to the taste and…eventually…he could…ah…”
“No fucking way, Jules. Matty’s mouth isn’t going anywhere near my dick. Got it?” He savored the disappointment on the woman’s face as he returned the container to the fridge.
On Saturday, Matt got up late. He knew Steven was supposed to be there and Julia was out. As Matt got to the kitchen, Steven was closing the fridge door. “Morning,” said the larger man, with a silly grin on his face.
“Jules tell you about the key?” asked Matt, asserting some authority.
“Yes, sir,” the other man replied with the same grin. “Absolutely, sir. Three bags full sir,” he reached into the freezer then dropped an ice cube into his glass. “No worries.”
+++
The week went by quickly. Twice Julia started out in the guestroom and not the master bedroom, but she always ended up with Matt each night. Twice she initiated ‘collecting a sample’ from Matt—one of those times, she started out in private with Steven. That night she slipped in beside Matt and started to kiss him, just about everywhere. He got hard and when he reached for his wife, she said, “No, it’s okay. This time is just for you.”
Once Matt was getting close, Julia sheathed him with the special condom. Then, she started sucking on his left nipple, playing with the right with one hand, and pumping him with her other hand. There was a familiarity about it that aroused Matt further, but he didn’t know why.
Then it hit him—this is what Adrianna was doing to Julia that one night. He was being masturbated as both nipples were being manipulated. The vision of Julia as a gold, shiny statue with arms spread out came to him and he got hotter. With eyes closed, he let the sensations wash over him and he played back the scene in his mind. Then he switched Julia to himself. It was Matt, being manipulated by Adrianna. Jules couldn’t reach under him to get Matt's other nipple the way the other woman had done to Jules, but he imagined that exact scene. His dick began to retreat from the edge.
Julia stopped sucking the nipple to ask, “You okay?” He nodded and in his mind the Frenchwoman turned into Mel. Julia felt the immediate change and returned to sucking his nipple. Then Matt moved his legs between Julia’s. He envisioned being trapped and held, with his legs unable to move between strong thighs and one arm pinned beneath the body beside him. Being held in such a way, he couldn't resist, couldn't escape. He felt the power. It was a sudden surge toward climax and he tried to slow it down to savor it—unsuccessfully.
Afterwards, Julia said, “Wow! That’s the most I’ve ever seen you put in one of these.” She waited until Matt was soft to take off the condom. Looking at the waste by the bed she said, “This is getting full, I’ll dump it now.” She carried everything to the kitchen before returning to her husband in bed.
+++
It was a Sunday evening a few weeks later. Matt had gone down to Yorkville, picked-up Italian food from Trattoria Nervosa, and had it warming in the oven when Julia arrived from the “Move with the Beats” competition in London. She looked tired but happy. “Hey, Baby,” she said as she entered the kitchen and kissed her husband on the cheek.
“Hey. How did it go?” asked Matt with genuine interest.
“We got a gold!” she squealed. “Ada was amazing! I screwed up one section, but they didn’t notice. Angela was there.” Angela was Julia’s friend since school and they were both working at the same company. “Guess what? She brought Opie!” Opie was the nickname for Angela’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, whose real name was Ron Howard.
“Anyone else I know?”
“No, Steven wasn’t there,” she said with a grin.
"How did you get there?"
"Ada drove. When she was home, she told Papa all about the competition and some big donor here in Toronto loaned her a car. It was a Jaguar!" She clapped her hands with glee. "It was gorgeous and comfortable and ohmygod it was so fast! I was sure we'd get a ticket!"
As they started eating, she sensed it was time to mention something.
“Have you signed those papers?”
Matt looked up with genuine surprise. “Shoot. I’m sorry, work’s really taken everything out of me and I haven’t had any time to look into the ‘Charlès Method’.” He did air quotes to show he wasn’t convinced.
That ticked her off and she said, “There’s a meeting near the hospital on Friday that I really need you to attend.”
“’Near the hospital’? What time? What’s it about?”
“It’s the middle of the afternoon, in someplace called ‘Mars’ or something. I’ll send you the full appointment.” Julia leveled her gaze directly at Matt and said, “I’m not kidding, Baby, this is so very important to me. I really need you to be there. Can you be there? Can I depend on you?”
Feeling like a heel, Matt capitulated. “Sure,” he promised. She grabbed a plate, stood up, turned her back and took the item to the sink. Matt couldn’t see Jules biting her lip or the worried look on her face.
+++
Friday morning, while still in bed, Matt read the news on his phone as usual. Startled, he checked further online then wasted zero time dressing and rushing out the door. “Matt!” Jules called, “Don’t you want breakfast?” She ran to the door and caught it before it closed. Spotting Matt at the elevator, she yelled, “Remember that appointment! You can’t miss…” The closing elevator doors cut her off.
Mick was already at work when Matt arrived and they shared a knowing look as a business analyst ran toward them. “Tariffs are going to hit Dominion Heavy Industries!” She exclaimed. “The overnight futures show a big drop for the opening!”
“Thanks,” said Matt, “We know.”
When the stock market opened, DHI had a ‘gap opening’ with a big drop in price from the previous day. Investors were selling the stock in a big panic, worried about the lost business, and because Dominion Heavy Industries sneezed, the rest of the market suddenly caught a cold.
Soon there was a crowd around the cubicles of Mick and Matt, watching phones and bigger screens.
“Why won’t AME cover?” whined a voice. Everyone was willing the system to buy back the stock—to end the slow torture.
“It’s still trying to squeeze out more profit,” said Matt blankly, hoping that was the answer. Then he felt a chill. “Shit,” he said, “The drop is going to hit the circuit-breaker rule.”
A voice asked, “What?”
“If a stock drops 10 percent or more in five minutes,” Matt explained, “the exchange will temporarily suspend trading. That’s supposed to decrease the volatility. With the pause, the price might stabilize, or even rise again.” Still staring at his screen, he said, “Come on, baby, cover the short, just cover the goddamned short.”
The price stabilized and everyone looked nervously at each other. Matt continued staring at his screen not registering when Mick picked up Matt’s phone and dialed a number. Mick plugged something into his ear and said to Matt, “Let me know the second anything happens.” Matt nodded as Mick put the live phone back on Matt’s desk and walked away saying, “Just don’t hang up!”
The slide in the stock price stopped and very slightly reversed for a few minutes. Matt hid his mouth with a hand and kept staring. “That’s not helping,” he said to the screen. “Do something. Put us out of our fucking misery.” Time dragged on.
And then the price of DHI went into free-fall.
“Fuck!” Matt yelled at his screen. “Cover the trade! Fucking cover the trade! The circuit-breaker is going to go off! Just cover the fu…”
Matt never finished that sentence as four things happened: bang, bang, bang, bang.
“YES!!!!” Matt roared as he threw his arms into the air.
The wiry man with the white stubble hung up the public pay phone at 120 Adelaide Street and briskly walked away.
Jesse Patterson yelled “BUY!” into his desk phone and simultaneously hung up his cell phone.
The man Matt and Mel knew as ‘Alan’ clapped his hands and pumped his fist into the air, startling those around him in the quiet office.
Three near-simultaneous large buy orders bumped the price of DHI up slightly, but the overall market was spooked and the downward slide resumed triggering the single-stock circuit-breaker rule temporarily halting all trades for Dominion Heavy Industries.
The news screens in all the offices and cubicles were alive with chatter about ‘over-sold’ and ‘the impact will be dampened with counter-tariffs and tax breaks’.
Matt felt a hand squeeze his shoulder and he turned his head to see old man Jacobs. The eyes twinkled at him and the partner gently said, “I knew my faith in our young genius was safe.” He looked at the next desk, frowned and asked, “At a time like this, where’s Mister Michaelis?”
“Right here,” said Matt’s cell phone from the desk. Mick continued, “Curfew will not ring tonight! Once again this shows why panic selling is a loser's move. Did it make much?” AME/HERMES had covered the short—it had bought back and returned the stock it had borrowed. Did it make anything or did it lose money because of the costs?
Matt punched some keys then gave an amount.
Mick’s voice chipped in, “Not bad at all. We’re celebrating after work!”
“And I think we’ll not short-sell again,” said Jacobs.
“Already done,” said Matt’s phone. “Matt has a fix ready to put in place.”
Suddenly feeling drained, Matt slumped in his chair. All the stress over the weeks…now gone. The widow-maker hadn’t killed them. Clients now knew they could trust the system and invest. He’d get a really nice bonus! Now, he had options! What should he do? What should he do first?
Five minutes passed without trading DHI and when it resumed the stock stabilized and started to climb back up as investors sensed a bargain. AME/HERMES had perfectly picked the lowest point of the stock price when it bought it back and the trailing two trades in its wake had slightly lower yields. Later, at his desk, Mick mused, it was as if HERMES knew the tariffs were coming. Nah. No way, it had to have been the typo and just how Matt’s rules analyzed the price movements. He got up, started to walk away, stopped, backed up and in an exaggerated fashion looked at Matt’s computer screen.
“Vancouver?” Mick wondered out loud. “You don’t let the grass grow under your feet do you, boy? As soon as you figure you’re allowed to leave, you start checking on flights.” Matt sheepishly shrugged. Mick straightened up. “So, how are you going to just disappear from home for a few days?” Matt sheepishly shrugged again. “Well,” continued Mick, “I can offer two solutions. After the fact, you can claim you were on a bender with Tequila and me. Or, I just might be able to give you some legit cover and have Jacobs pay your way. I’m sure there are a couple of firms managing Granny money on the ‘Wet Coast’ who will like a HERMES demo.” He then started walking away again and without looking back said, “Just remember my shotgun.”
“Where’s the celebration after work?” Matt called to Mick’s back.
“The Rec Room—call it an adult version of Chuck E. Cheese—it’s kitty-corner from the Roger’s Center in the Round House.” Mick had mysteriously found some money for a team celebration—but, after all, it was Mick so there wasn’t a real mystery. He stopped walking. “Why?”
“I might have to meet you there, got an appointment,” Matt called to Mick’s back then he checked his phone. There were no messages and he soon had to head up to MaRS—the center that commercialized publicly-funded medical research –for the appointment Jules had insisted he attend. He really wanted to be back for the celebration and he had no clue what the appointment was about. Jules had told him in no uncertain terms not to miss it. There should be enough time to walk it and he really wanted some time to himself. Meh, so he’d be a little late.
Matt grabbed a coffee to go, walked over to University Avenue and once again started walking north. He breathed deeply, his gut felt great. The first thought was that he really needed to see Mel and come to a resolution. From there, a number of other things could be planned out. It was amazing how trapped he’d felt by the AME problem. He breathed deeply again: thank God that was all over.
Matt indeed was a few minutes late, partly because of trouble finding the meeting room. When he slipped into the back, he spotted Jules and Adrianna sitting together, about mid-way up the sparsely-populated room. On a stage at the front sat a row of people in business dress and Normand Charlès Jr. looking very uncomfortable. Matt felt a smack on his shoulders and turned to a grinning Alexandre.
“Exciting times, non? Congratulations, by the way,” said the tall, handsome man as he held his hand out to Matt.
Matt was confused but automatically took the hand. “Congratulations? You mean the trade?”
“Trade? What trade? I meant the baby,” said the man, clearly puzzled. Matt said nothing, looking confused. “You don’t know about the baby?” asked Alexandre. Matt shook his head.
“Merde,” said the other man, frowning. “Wait here. This isn’t right.” He walked over and moved into the row behind Matt’s wife and her friend. There was an animated, though hushed, conversation, during which Jules, looking frightened, kept glancing in Matt’s direction. Alexandre returned to Matt and gestured him outside the room and into the expansive, glass-covered atrium. He took a deep breath then said, “Normand has developed a new assisted reproductive technology that essentially injects the egg with a pack of DNA.” He smiled, clearly proud with what he was saying. “It’s a pack we create—you can call it bespoke sperm.”
“Normand offered some treatment to us, so I know something about it. We still haven’t officially signed up yet.”
Alexandre gave Matt a quizzical look and then continued, “Normand developed the delivery system, if you will, and I am the DNA expert. I make the product, he puts it together in a package and then he delivers it. We’ve pushed the technology even further and they are announcing that a woman is now carrying a baby from this synthetic in vitro fertilization made from a unique source. It is incredibly exciting.”
Matt nodded and shrugged, “OK. Why am I here?”
Alexandre’s frowned. “I’m sorry; you’ll have to wait to hear the rest.”
Matt felt uneasy and had to ask, “Julia’s not carrying this baby, is she?”
Alexandre clearly weighed his words then said, “Julia is not carrying the baby that they are announcing, and they’re keeping the identity of the mother from the public. I’m sorry, I can’t say anymore, please wait.”
Matt returned to the room, sat at the back and tried to follow what remained of the dry presentation. Julia kept glancing back with a very worried look. A palpable buzz grew in the room as the conference progressed, but Matt felt agitated and wanted it over.
When it was finally done, Alexandre tapped Matt again, “Stay here—I’ll come and get you.” He then left Matt, collected the two women and joined Normand at the front of the room. They left together through a side door. Matt had no idea what to think.
Ten-minutes later, the five of them—Matt, Normand, Adrianna, Alexandre and a clearly-distressed Julia—were in Normand’s office. The women were sitting side-by-side and the men were all standing.
Alexandre started by talking angrily to Normand, “As I explained, we don’t have any signed consent forms from Mr. Adams and he has not been informed of anything that impacts him. You give lip-service to administration and paper-work, but the ethics committee will crucify you over this. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve jeopardized your funding.” He pushed the desk chair toward Matt. “Please, Matt, have a seat.” When Matt had settled beside Julia, Alexandre continued, “Matt, as I mentioned, Normand has developed a technique to create a package to inseminate a human egg from custom DNA—which I isolate. As we just announced, we have moved to a clinical trial to inseminate one woman’s egg with the genetic material of another woman. For the first time, there will be a baby from two women, without use of a man’s sperm.”
Matt had tried to follow the announcement earlier, but was too distracted. The news stunned him. Adrianna stood and moved to Matt. “Matthew, I am the woman whose pregnancy was just announced. I am going to have a baby and she will be from Hoolia. I am sorry that you didn’t know.” She looked at Julia, who had tears running down her cheeks... “But Hoolia tells me that she had no idea how to tell you.”
Julia reached out and grabbed Matt’s hand, “I’m sorry, Baby. I couldn’t explain it and…and…” She looked up at Matt and her lip trembled, “There’s more.”
“More?” Matt calmly asked. “There’s more than a spouse having a baby without telling their partner? How on Earth would you have reacted if I told you that I’m having a baby with another woman?” Julia’s other hand went up to her mouth.
Normand shifted and frowned. “I don’t see that as the same thing at all. We used the genetic material of two women…”
“How is it different from using the genetic material of a woman and a man in the traditional sense?” countered Matt.
“Of course, you have a point,” said Alexandre, gesturing everyone to calm down. “The communications of this situation have not been handled well.”
Adrianna sat beside Jules again, put an arm around her and said, “Matthew, it has not been handled well, but the situation remains. I am having a baby with Hoolia, and I couldn’t be happier. It is unfortunate that you were not informed, but it has happened.” Holy fuck, thought Matt—looking at the two women and remembering the photograph— Adrianna is having a baby with the ghost of her dead fiancé, the one Jules cut her hair to look like. Adrianna paused and then said, “And there is more.”
Julia gripped Matt harder and looked at him. “Baby, I agreed to this because it included an offer to help with our own family.”
“Which we haven’t followed-up with,” cut in Matt.
Julia looked down and Adrianna squeezed her shoulder saying, “Tell him, Hoolia.”
Julia looked up and said, “Baby, you kept putting off signing, but…but…but the timing was right, and I figured you would eventually sign anyway. I just knew it.” She looked up at him. “You’ve told me over-and-over we have to grow up and that you want a family. That one night, you just said you wanted to wait a bit. But everything was perfectly ready—it was all in place. So I went ahead…”
SMACK! The sound was Alexandre slapping his own forehead.
“What are you saying, Jules?” asked Matt. “Are you pregnant?”
“…yes....”
“Is it mine, Julia?”
“Matt!” yelled Julia. “Matthew!” Adrianna exploded simultaneously. The Lioness’ eyes flashed and she looked ready to lunge from the chair.
Matt’s vision tunneled as he glanced around to Adrianna, to Julia, back to Adrianna and then finally to Normand. The strong, athletic woman was a mother; Matt’s wife, the most feminine person in the world was a father and, at the same time, a mother; and Adrianna and Normand, the man who made this happen, were sister and brother.
Normand cleared his throat and said, “Mr. Adams, we have implanted into Julia, an embryo from her own egg, inseminated by material from you. Congratulations! You’re having a baby!” He looked around clearly puzzled, “Why isn’t everyone celebrating? My wife and I would be overjoyed!” Matt’s gut started to ache again.
_____________________________________________________
“The more the world is changing
“The more it stays the same
“Life is full of small surprises
“It's a never ending game
“If nothing is impossible
“Will you believe your eyes
“If the unexpected brings a smile
“That's a big surprise
“Surprise, surprise, the unexpected hits you between the eyes
“The unpredictable, that's the surprise you see, surprise! Surprise!”
Michaelis Thanis was lying awake, listening to the snores of his animal companion, Bernini. It was so late he knew he should try to sleep, but he just couldn’t let things go. Hearing his phone buzz and seeing it light up, he reached over and checked the screen which read, “Control Freak”. While the little dog continued snoring on the floor, Mick did a quick time zone calculation then answered.
“Hey Princess, what’s up? You OK?”
“Yes, I’m fine, but I found something stupid—something Really, Really, Stupid.”
Very early the next morning, Jesse Patterson was looking over his screens to gauge the lay of the markets and abruptly stopped. Pecking at his keyboard, he confirmed what he had seen, and sat back in his chair. After chewing a thumbnail for some minutes he located a number on his cell phone and wrote it on a sticky. Peeling off the note, he stood up, locked his cell phone in a drawer and briskly made his way through the office and down the elevator. Expertly, he made his way through Toronto’s underground PATH and popped out across from 120 Adelaide Street. He crossed into the building and picked up one of the few public payphones left in the banking core.
Forty-five minutes later, Matt was floored. He and Mick were hiding at the back of the Second Cup coffee shop under the Bank of Nova Scotia. If anyone came in, they would have to LOOK for them up on the raised section and around the corner.
“A TYPO?” Matt spluttered.
“Sh. A typo,” Mick confirmed. “The news feed had all sorts of bad news about a company called the Dryden Housing Union but at the end of the article, the stock ticker was listed as ‘DHI’ not ‘DHU’. It mistakenly identified the stock in question as Dominion Heavy Industries. I do typos like that all the time. On my stupid phone, I’m always fighting with ‘I’ and ‘U’. A correction was sent later in the news feed, so we’ll have to look into how HERMES it.”
Matt mulled it over. “AME considered selling Dryden Housing Union ‘short’ based on the bad news but was using the ticker symbol of Dominion Heavy Industry instead. It then looked up the trading volume and price history, and found DHI was well worth putting in play—based on the wrong news. Shit. Well, it’s a project in itself to try and figure out how to unravel something similar like this in the future. We have to do it carefully since we have so many positions in play; AME is constantly balancing and measuring.” [Selling short is a method of selling a stock by borrowing it then buying it back when the price goes down. Sell high, buy low. It strongly assumes the price of the stock will go down, because if the price goes up, you lose money.] He looked hard at Mick. “How on earth did you find this?”
“I didn’t. Our favorite Control Freak did.”
“My God,” Matt shook his head in wonder. “The time she must have put into it.”
“Meh. It just kept her away from watching the soaps and from killing her mother and grandmother in their sleep,” Mick replied. Then he parodied the Lizzie Borden poem:
“Mel Rougier in searching facts,
“Isn’t giving Mommy forty whacks”
“That reminds me,” he mused. “She still has my camping hatchet.” Then the man with the short, grey beard looked into Matt’s face and asked, “Do you trust me?”
“I guess. Sure. Why?”
“Between just us, I can’t tell you.”
Matt looked puzzled but said, “Okay. What do I have to trust you about?”
“We do nothing about the widow-maker trade itself. We don’t unravel that trade; we leave the money on the table and let it ride.”
“WHAT?”
“Easy. We keep working full tilt to ensure future problems don’t happen and if they do, we can back them out. We just SAY we’re working on fixing that particular trade to keep the nervous-nanny partners off our backs.”
Matt took a deep breath and shrugged. “Sure. I mean, okay. But, where are you getting this?”
Mick clearly carefully weighed what to say before answering, “Let’s say, it’s better if you don’t know. I take full and sole responsibility for…” He paused. “…something. We never had this part of the conversation.”
Matt’s gut was already hurting as he was still waiting for Jules to drop a bomb on him, this made it worse. On the way back to the office, Matt saw he had a message from Mel. The subject was ‘nonmonogamous relationship’! He stopped and immediately opened it. Of course, it was nothing like he thought it was. There was a link to an article called, ‘what-a-nonmonogamous-relationship-is-really-like-and-why-ill-never-do-it-again’. He should have known.
++++
When Matt got home, he was pleasantly surprised to see Jules was already there. She’d spent an entire night at Steven’s place, “Because he really needs some attention.” She was already busy in the kitchen and there was a glass of white wine on the island beside her. Matt sat down without a word to watch her. With a kiss on the cheek, she placed a glass of sparkling wine in front of him. With a pang, he remembered Mick’s comment about Mel being the world’s expert in champagne.
“Oh, thanks,” he said. “What is it?”
“The guy at the store recommended a Spanish thing with a brownish label. I know you like your bubbles these days.” Segura Viudas, thought Matt.
“So, how was your day?” he asked in a slightly ironic tone.
“Good—all good,” she replied, not picking up on his irony and turning to continuing her work.
Matt picked up the glass and just before it touched his lips asked, “How’s Steven?”
Matter-of-factly, she replied, “Oh, he’s awesome as always.”
“You spent extra time together after the other night, is he okay?”
“Yes, no problem, you know him. He put on an awesome show for me that night and he didn’t hurt Ada.”
Matt bit his tongue about who got hurt, then tried to pick at what bothered him most, “How is Adrianna?” He couldn’t really ask Jules if she was leaving him.
“Oh, she’s terrific,” Jules said with visible enthusiasm. “We’ve our amazing new costumes for our silks routine.” She looked at Matt and smiled. “Now we want to do a performance as soon as possible, so we’re going to enter the ‘Move with the Beats’ competition in London. We’ll have to figure out how we’ll get there, and if we’ll stay over. I hope you can come to watch.” London was over two hours away by car, or over three by bus or train.
“Depends on work,” he replied. “I’d really like to see it. Don’t they a make a video of everything?”
She served the food and sat down across from her husband. “Yes, they always do and I’ll want one anyway. The show will end late, so we’ll have to stay out overnight.” She paused and then said, “There is something I wanted to talk about.”
Here it comes, thought Matt, steeling himself.
Jules played with her food and didn’t look at Matt, “You’ve mentioned about ‘growing up’ a couple of times. Ada’s brother is doing work in fertility at Mount Sinai Hospital and he’s offered us free consulting.” She looked up, reached across and took Matt’s hand. “We can get some help and start that family.”
Surprised, Matt said, “Do we need help? Is now the right time?”
Jules laughed, “Whoa! You’re the one who kept pressing me about growing up, Mister. And if we didn’t need help, something would have already happened by now.” Her eyes twinkled at him.
Matt took a bite of dinner to think. “I’d like a little time to get this problem at work sorted out. And…what about Steven? Are you sure you’re talking to your preferred sperm donor?”
The hand was removed. “Now you’re being a shit,” said Jules. “Will it take giving birth to your baby for you to realize you’re my one-and-only husband?” Matt almost asked how ‘Uncle Stevie’ would react to living with their baby, but he had pretended not to have heard her say anything about that.
She took Matt’s hand again. “Normand’s really busy and he’s offering us a consultation Thursday. Let’s talk to him. Can it hurt?” Trapped, Matt agreed as a way of putting it off.
++++
Jesse Patterson looked up as his boss walked into the office, closed the door and sat down.
“Jesse,” started the other man, “I want to talk to you about this short trade.”
“I appreciate the concern Marc, but you’ll see that the amount of that trade falls directly under my personal authority.” He smiled as sweetly as he could.
“The trade itself is, but your losses would still affect everyone else overall.”
“I appreciate that as well, but I’m still selling Dominion Heavy Industries short.” Again he smiled, wanting to end this conversation.
The other man shook his head. “I think this is our very first short sell, and you’re shorting DHI of all possible stocks? For the love of God, why?”
“Let’s just say, I’m trying out a new trading approach.”
++++
On Thursday, Matt entered the hospital lobby early. It was a perfect day for a walk and he’d taken the opportunity to go up University Avenue to help clear his head, and his gut. Feeling quite relaxed he looked up the escalator wondering which way Normand’s office was. He froze. At the top, he spotted Julia, Adrianna and a man he’d never seen before. All three looked very comfortable with each other and two were saying goodbye to Adrianna. The man hugged her, and then Jules hugged and kissed her. Then Adrianna said something and Jules and the man looked at each other, looked back at Adrianna and laughed. Then they embraced and shared a quick kiss. Matt had no idea what to think of it and quickly backed up and pushed through the revolving door out to the sidewalk.
Outside, Matt tried to work through what he’d seen. The man must have been Adrianna’s brother. Jules could have met him when she went to the cottage that weekend. But the familiarity, the closeness, left Matt wondering what the relationship between the man and his wife truly was. The three were ending a meeting before the meeting with Matt. What were they meeting about? The embrace, the kiss…fuck, was someone ELSE bonking his wife?
Matt stuck close to the building and waited as Adrianna came out, walked to the curb, hailed a cab and headed south. He watched the time and waited until he was a bit late, then he re-entered the building.
Sometime later, Normand Charlès, the man who’d kissed Jules in the hospital lobby, explained, “So, my new technique virtually guarantees insemination. We will take a sample from you, Mr. Adams, but no matter the finding, there will be ways for us to recover sufficient material to inject into Mrs. Adam’s ovum—her egg. As soon as she is ovulating again, we do the procedure and get your family started! Do you have any questions?”
Matt struggled to pretend some enthusiasm in front of Julia. He had no questions. He didn’t want to be there.
“You were saying this is no cost to us,” said Matt.
“Correct,” said the other man. He had a faint French accent. “I’m told that here, normal costs for intracytoplasmic sperm injection—or ‘ICSI’ which is directly injecting an ovum with one live sperm—are anywhere from $10,000 to $17,000. And I must point out that the typical success rate is 44 per cent for women between 18 and 34, so multiple rounds of treatment are not unusual.”
“The government now covers some infertility treatment, doesn’t it?” asked Matt.
“True, they will pay for three cycles of in vitro fertilization, which is part of this, but not the medication and only for women with bilateral blocked fallopian tubes. Mrs. Adams does not suffer from this problem.”
Matt was startled, “How do you know?”
The other man shifted in his seat slightly, “We have already obtained information from Mrs. Adams’ gynecologist. Going back to costs, with this new procedure, there will be the added costs of the DNA collection, isolation, combination and packaging.”
Matt looked at Jules and thought, she’s already gone ahead with some of this or they wouldn’t have her file. “So how do you avoid these costs?”
“This can be ‘hidden’, if you will, as research. We are fully funded and even though we are moving to making this a public offering, we can do this for you free of charge.” His eyes, not for the first time, shifted quickly to Julia. Matt was convinced there was something else going on that no one was telling him. Then Normand said, “Let’s say, I’m also doing this as a favor for my sister.”
There it was again—Adrianna was participating in this meeting, even though she had driven away in a cab. What was going on?
“Next steps?” asked Matt, almost by reflex.
“Well, we will take a sample from you today. As I said, we will evaluate your semen but it will be purely following standard procedures. Traditional in vitro fertilization would then be adapted based on the results, but we will move straight to the ‘Charlès method’, which is virtually guaranteed—assuming we harvest a healthy ovum.” He proudly smiled. “Then, once we have the paperwork together, we can take another sample from you and start processing it. We will continue to monitor Julia’s cycle and harvest what ova become available.”
“Continue to monitor?” asked Matt. There it was again. “You said, ‘continue to monitor’ Jules.”
Normand looked surprised. His eyes shifted to Julia. “Well…what I mean by that is…ah…well…as you know she’s…ah… already mentioned that she’s been off her oral contraceptives...ah…that her cycle is regular and…ah…when she last menstruated.”
Gotcha again! Thought Matt, we haven’t mentioned all of that in this meeting. What’s going on?
He looked at his phone. “Oh, look at the time. Are we about done here?”
Julia looked unhappy.
“Well,” said Normand, “If we can get a sample from you now, and your signatures on these, we’ll be done for today.” He indicated a folder in front of him. “Then we’ll coordinate another sample from you with harvesting from Julia. In the interim, I recommend an ejaculation frequency of every 2-to-5 days to optimize sperm production. We have various means to create the injection package, but a good-sized ejaculation sample is always best.”
After much embarrassed joking, Jules and Matt were left alone in a room. They had a container, Matt’s pants were half off and Julia had her hand around his limp penis. The room had a surprising collection of erotic DVDs and magazines, but all Matt could think of was the number of men who had been here to ‘do their duty’. It wasn’t a recipe for successful romance.
“I have to think about this,” said Matt as he tried to think of a good reason to postpone.
“But, Baby, this is exactly what you wanted. You know we had ample opportunity to have an accident in the past and nothing happened. This is free and it’s pretty-much guaranteed.” She was getting exasperated with Matt’s reluctant organ.
“This is the first I’ve heard of it, I just need to do my own due diligence. Isn’t it best to be sure?”
Julia reluctantly nodded. “Yes. Tense, Baby?” she asked. “Relax.” She sat beside Matt, still playing with his flaccid member. Leaning into her husband, she asked, “Do you want to look at your phone?” He shook his head, trying to resist.
She started talking in a husky whisper into his ear. “Think back at our adventures in playing—they were all about love, curiosity and…hot…sex. Remember? It has never really been about me fucking another man in front of you, right? It was about me doing it for you.” Matt thought: Did that really mean falling in love too? Then remembered it actually did. Jules continued, “Did you see the neighbor’s son the other day?” Matt nodded. “He’s turning into quite the hunk—a really big boy.” She popped the b’s right into Matt’s ear. “I was thinking of helping him out. You know, I haven’t made a boy into a man for quite a while—I want to help him with his virginity.” She emphasized virginity. “Wouldn’t it be hot if I was his first? I’d start with a hand-job, just like this one. I’d wear something sexy and slowly pump him up-and-down. Up-and-down. He’s never had that done before and he’d think I was sooooo sexy. In no time, he’d come all over my wedding ring. Then another day, I could give him a treat and put my lips around him.” She leaned down and gently blew on Matt and knew he was getting hard. She moved back to his ear.
“Later, I’d let him watch me rub myself. As I worked my clit, he’d get hard. That cock would look sooo big that I’d cum all over my hand. I’d wrap my hand, wet and slick with my own pussy juice, around his huge dick and slowly pump. Up-and-down. Just…like…this.” She made sure Matt knew what she was talking about.
“Later, I’d make you go down on me as I described how I would fuck him. Then, on his birthday, I could take his virginity. I’d have sex with him and make you watch. You’d sit in the corner and I’d suck on him until he was huge. I’d lick that gorgeous thing all along its length. It’s so beautiful that I’d give it a little kiss, right at the end. Then he’d lick slowly up-and-down my slit to get me ready. I’d be teaching him to be a real stud for women and he’d be sooo gooood and he’d get me sooo wet. Then, I’d guide him into my dripping pussy. He is huge, Baby. He stretches me sooo much. God, he feels incredible, so big, so much of a man. I’d cry out as he went deeper and deeper, touching me in places you’d never be able to reach.” She knew it was just a matter of time.
“My first orgasm would hit just from him putting it in me, Baby. Right as he parted my pussy lips. I get so hot seeing you helpless as he fucks me. He feels incredible. Kiss me Baby; kiss me while he fucks me.” With a finger under his chin, Julia turned Matt’s head and slid her tongue into his mouth.
She withdrew and continued, “I’d cum and cum and cum until he started to get close. You know I’m off my pills. He’s bareback because it feels sooooo goooood and I can’t control myself. You get hard because you can’t help it and you start stroking yourself. As he cums, I cross my ankles behind him and pull him deeeep into my throbbing pussy. Then as you spill your tiny load on the floor, I will cum again because of his length, his girth and oh my God, that huge load of his cum. That cum was made inside his body, Baby, and it’s now inside my body. His insides are now inside me and it’s as if we have touched each other on some special level. He’s a man now and I feel like I could love him, Baby. It’s like I’m fused to his cock forever. He’s sooo manly that with just one try, I’m now carrying his baby. I have a man now and he’s one I’ve made. God, he’s so special. You get so hot kissing my swelling belly, knowing…” This was taking too long. Remembering an earlier night, she decided to take another direction.
“…knowing I’m now pregnant, pregnant by my own young, hung stud and you’re all over me. But that’s just the start. Once I’ve had his baby, we’ll go out to a bar and we’ll take another woman with us.” Unbeknownst to Jules, Mel had entered Matt’s mind. Julia’s hand felt the change and she was slightly disappointed, she wasn’t going to identify the other woman as ‘Ada’. “She’s strong and dominant. You get hard when she starts making out with me in public. Everyone sees her dominance over me and everyone sees us kissing. My stud, my man, whispers something to her and she puts her hand between my legs with everyone watching. Baby, she’s finger-fucking me. Oh, my god, she gets me going. Her hand comes out of my dripping pussy and she slowly sucks her fingers. You’re hard. Soooo haaaaard...”
She had him. As Matt envisaged fingers slick with pussy juices sliding into Mel’s bee-sting lips, he came and Jules scrambled to collect it. She felt complete satisfaction that she still had power to excite Matt and make him cum—not knowing about Melissa’s contribution.
Once they’d cleaned up, Matt slipped out through the second door.
“Matt! Where are you going?” called Jules.
“Gotta run back to work. I told you, I have a big problem AND I have to do proper due diligence about this fertility stuff.” And he was gone.
“Matt! The papers!” she called as he disappeared.
When Matt got back to the office Mick was at his own desk.
“We’ve been joined in shorting DHI,” Mick casually said to his screen.
“No way!”
“Check the short interest data yourself. The problem is, the stock hasn’t moved down. We may have company in our misery, but that’s it right now.”
“Shit, it’s still a waiting game then.”
“Yup. But HERMES doesn’t look so…alone. That at least takes pressure off us, otherwise management was ready to pull the plug on this and all short trades—which, frankly, might be a good idea.”
That’s when Jacobs showed up. “Can I see both of you for a moment?” asked the senior partner.
Once in his office, with the door closed, he was short, “This morning we had the quarterly earnings conference call with Dominion Heavy Industries.” Four times a year, companies have conference calls to highlight successes or calm fears. Those on the call typically are institutional investors (like pension funds), individual investors and corporate analysts. “The news was as expected and I suspect there will be continued agreement that Dominion is a buy. I just wanted you to be aware of this as soon as possible. Mick has done a good job keeping all the partners content with how things are going.”
“Don’t wake the sleeping baby, is my motto,” said Mick.
“And my fellow partners can certainly be babies,” chuckled the partner. “What can you tell me?”
“Matt’s working on eliminating short trades, and all trades are getting a manual review,” said Mick.
“Overall AME is well above target,” Matt chimed in. “And that includes the costs of that trade. As Mick suggested, we’re going to put short-sells on hold until we see how this plays out.”
“I think,” replied Jacobs, “We need to redefine what HERMES is doing.” Mick smiled at that. “We never thought,” continued Jacobs, “that this would be such an aggressive trading model. We want high returns for large pockets.”
“You don’t like giving customers coronaries?” asked Mick. They all chuckled. “However, the days of the widows-and-orphans funds are over, Austin.” Matt’s head snapped to look at Mick. No one ever called Jacobs by his first name.
“I suspect you’re right, Michaelis,” replied Jacobs. “The days of many things are over. Orderly world trade may be one.”
++++
Julia conspicuously stopped sending NSFW messages. Making sure I don’t waste a load, thought Matt. He avoided ‘The Subject’ with Julia, much to his wife’s consternation. At one point he found an envelope in front of him at dinner. When he opened it, he found the papers he was supposed to sign and a report about his sample. Ignoring the other papers he skimmed the report…‘total motile sperm count’…‘morphology’…‘liquefaction’. It didn’t sound promising. He put the package on the table and looked at Jules.
“So, you see, we need Normand’s help,” she flatly said. Then in a demanding tone said, “Now, will you please sign those papers?”
Matt sighed. “Jules, I told you, I have so much pressure at work and no time. I really want to look into this thing. Yes, you know them, yes you’re sure. But I know nothing about them and it might be…”
His wife abruptly got up, walked briskly down the hall and slammed the bedroom door. Matt didn’t immediately run after her, but he didn’t wait long enough to make it look like he didn’t care. When he entered the bedroom he found Julia on the bed, hugging a pillow, still dressed, looking empty.
“Jules...”
“I get it, I really do,” she said, interrupting him. “I get that you gave me bullshit about growing up—about starting a family. Was it a ploy just to get me to drop Steven? Is that what it was all about? You were trying to make me choose? What if I gave up on you, with your ‘due diligence’, and got Steven’s help? Is that what you want?” She finally took a breath and with a catch in her voice said, “What the fuck DO you want Matt? I don’t know anymore!”
Matt sat on the bed beside his wife and put an arm around her. “Right now, I really do want some time Jules. I do want to grow up. But the pressure’s been…” he couldn’t think a word to describe it.
Julia felt her husband’s pain and her posture softened. She turned to her husband and touched his cheek. “Oh, my poor Baby,” she said. “And that bitch of a wife isn’t giving you any peace, is she?”
Matt smiled weakly, truly feeling sorry for his wife. “I get your confusion, your frustration. It’s just, I have to do things, one at a time. Think them through properly. Right now, this isn’t what I’m concentrating on; I can’t, I don’t have time.”
Julia cradled him, feeling better. She believed she had just heard him confirm that it was going to happen—just not right now. She kissed his head. “Hey,” she whispered. “I’m on a bed with my sexy husband. What’s with all these clothes?”
The tender session that followed surprised Matt. Jules concentrated on him, getting him aroused, building with a slow, continuous burn. She was careful not to get him to come with her teasing and her foreplay. There was only going to be one end for him. At the crucial moment, she reached into the nightstand and pulled out a foil package. It was one he hadn’t seen before and he looked at her questioningly.
“It’s one from Normand,” she explained, then she rolled into onto Matt’s throbbing dick and she rode him and rode him until he exploded. She then waited, entwined with her husband, until he was almost asleep. Then she very carefully pulled him out, unsheathed him and padded to the kitchen.
+++
Exactly three nights later, Matt got home quite late. He’d already explained to Julia that the team were doing some testing after the markets closed. The door was open to an empty master, but the guestroom door was closed. The kitchen light was still on and he wandered in to turn it off. Conspicuous, on the otherwise empty island, was a bottle of baby lotion, a lighter, a safety pin and an empty condom foil. Curious, he picked up the package and noted it was a ‘magnum’ size…and that it had expired over a year ago. Odd.
Matt heard a door close. After turning off the kitchen light, he went to his bedroom again passing the closed guestroom door. Wearing nothing but a smile, Julia was waiting for him doing a ‘cheesecake pose’ on the bed.
“Hey, Baby,” she cooed. “Another rough day? Let Mommy make it better for you.” She got up, slowly stripped her husband slid into bed with him and put on a clinic. Starting with her hand on his cock and her mouth on his nipples, moving to using her mouth on his cock and finally sheathing the cock and mounting it, Julia concentrated on giving her husband intense pleasure.
Matt was lost in enjoyment and the stress-free holiday when Julia quietly said in an impish voice, “Did you see my pregnancy kit?” Matt opened his eyes, stared at her and said nothing. “Did you see the condom package?” He nodded. “Well,” she continued as she rode the stiff cock, “I read about it on a blog. See, you take one expired condom in the package, heat it a bit with a lighter and then prick it a few times with a pin.” Getting into her story and her motion, she closed her eyes and her breathing changed. “Then take it out, fill it with baby oil, leave it for a while,” she paused her movement and leaned down. She kissed her husband, sucked thumb and forefinger of each hand and started playing with Matt’s nipples. Then she leaned forward again, ran her warm, wet tongue over his lips and whispered into his open mouth. “Then put it on one huge, throbbing, gorgeous piece of man-meat and ride it like I’m riding you right now. When the bough breaks, the condom will fall and out will come spermies, baby and all…”
For Matt, something snapped, his face hardened and he grabbed his wife’s hips and a tussle of wills began. Man and wife both tried to dictate the pace of intercourse. He was stronger, but she had the advantage of the high ground. The thrusting became more and more violent. In frustration, the man used his strength to push the woman to the side and flip the couple over. He re-positioned himself, lifted up on his arms and shoved his cock back into the woman as hard and as fast as he could. It all came tumbling into his mind: the trade, Steven, Jules games, getting smacked around by Adrianna, Mel. Yes, Mel. Nothing was going his way. Nothing seemed to be under his control. Nothing was HIS choice. Well, fuck her! He would damned well control this! With the added energy of anger he began to piston and thrust as hard as far and as fast as he possibly could.
“Is this what you want?” he said through clenched teeth. “Is it? Is it? Are you going to have a baby and make sure it won’t be mine? Cum! Cum you fucking bitch! Cum on me!”
The change in the woman’s breathing indicated his coming victory. She pushed her head back and grinned until she squealed her climax. He shoved himself in as far as he could and he held it, feeling the spasms, feeling the power. But he didn’t cum—he wouldn’t cum. There was no fucking way that he’d give her that satisfaction. Then he fiercely yanked himself out of the woman, tore off the condom, threw it somewhere and marched naked to the guestroom.
When he got there, he grabbed the knob, turned it and threw his entire weight against the door. Then stood there, perplexed, looking into an empty bedroom and a bed that looked like it had never been used. He stood panting, feeling the pulse in his temples, coming down from the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins. Slowly, his breathing started to return to normal, he started feeling cool and he suddenly felt tired.
Matt returned to the bed and sat down with his back to his wife. “What the fuck was that all about?”
He felt the woman’s arms go around him from behind. In a quiet voice she said, “I just wanted to see how good it might be after growing up.” She kissed his back. “And I wanted to see if you really wanted a baby. Do you, Baby?”
He took a deep breath. “I want a family and that family will need a mother.” Looking over his shoulder at Jules he asked, “Is that you?”
She kissed the side of his face and said, “Maybe I’ll redefine the meaning of ‘mother’. You were amazing. I’ve never cum on you like that before.” Then mischievously she asked, “Who were you looking for down the hall?”
“Who else? Your work husband—who apparently can get into my home whenever he wants.”
She laid her face on his back. “I’m sorry. He took the keys before I could talk to you about it and I couldn’t ask for them back. It will only be for a week. Ada’s gone to France, so there should be no drama.”
“Very nice, you worry how SHE’LL take it, not me. Fine, I’ll go to the concierge tomorrow and I’ll tell them he has access for seven more days. After that, even if he sneaks past them, he won’t be able to use the elevator. Listen to me: I want to know, in advance, every fucking minute he’ll be in my home. Then on day eight, I will have the key and the fob in my hand.”
He couldn’t see the look on her face, but he heard her quiet voice and felt her mouth on his back say, “OK.”
Remembering That Night with Adrianna, he asked, “What aren’t you telling me, Julia?”
He felt her stiffen and there was a long pause. It was so long, Matt turned his head to look at her. She had her mouth open as if to say something, but nothing was coming out.
Eventually she said, “I wish I could explain it, I wish I could tell you.” She hugged him harder. “In a few weeks you’ll hear something. I promise.” After a pause, Jules hands started roaming over Matt’s chest. “You still haven’t cum, Baby.” She kissed his back and said, “Doctor’s orders.”
Later, once again she waited until Matt was asleep before she removed the condom and walked to the kitchen.
+++
After work the next day, while Julia was changing, and Matt was still at work, Steven Spears looked into the Adam’s fridge. He saw an odd container, took it out and opened it. WTF? Julia entered the room and turned her back to the man. “Zip me up?”
Steven waved the container at her. “Yuck! What the hell is this doing in the fridge?” The woman turned and had a sharp intake of breath.
“Oh,” she said in obvious, embarrassed confusion. “Well, that’s…ah…that’s…”
“You’re not going to train Matty to eat his own cum or something are you?”
He missed the quick sequence that passed over her face, before she said, “…ah…yes. I thought…ah…it would be a good way to get him used to the taste and…eventually…he could…ah…”
“No fucking way, Jules. Matty’s mouth isn’t going anywhere near my dick. Got it?” He savored the disappointment on the woman’s face as he returned the container to the fridge.
On Saturday, Matt got up late. He knew Steven was supposed to be there and Julia was out. As Matt got to the kitchen, Steven was closing the fridge door. “Morning,” said the larger man, with a silly grin on his face.
“Jules tell you about the key?” asked Matt, asserting some authority.
“Yes, sir,” the other man replied with the same grin. “Absolutely, sir. Three bags full sir,” he reached into the freezer then dropped an ice cube into his glass. “No worries.”
+++
The week went by quickly. Twice Julia started out in the guestroom and not the master bedroom, but she always ended up with Matt each night. Twice she initiated ‘collecting a sample’ from Matt—one of those times, she started out in private with Steven. That night she slipped in beside Matt and started to kiss him, just about everywhere. He got hard and when he reached for his wife, she said, “No, it’s okay. This time is just for you.”
Once Matt was getting close, Julia sheathed him with the special condom. Then, she started sucking on his left nipple, playing with the right with one hand, and pumping him with her other hand. There was a familiarity about it that aroused Matt further, but he didn’t know why.
Then it hit him—this is what Adrianna was doing to Julia that one night. He was being masturbated as both nipples were being manipulated. The vision of Julia as a gold, shiny statue with arms spread out came to him and he got hotter. With eyes closed, he let the sensations wash over him and he played back the scene in his mind. Then he switched Julia to himself. It was Matt, being manipulated by Adrianna. Jules couldn’t reach under him to get Matt's other nipple the way the other woman had done to Jules, but he imagined that exact scene. His dick began to retreat from the edge.
Julia stopped sucking the nipple to ask, “You okay?” He nodded and in his mind the Frenchwoman turned into Mel. Julia felt the immediate change and returned to sucking his nipple. Then Matt moved his legs between Julia’s. He envisioned being trapped and held, with his legs unable to move between strong thighs and one arm pinned beneath the body beside him. Being held in such a way, he couldn't resist, couldn't escape. He felt the power. It was a sudden surge toward climax and he tried to slow it down to savor it—unsuccessfully.
Afterwards, Julia said, “Wow! That’s the most I’ve ever seen you put in one of these.” She waited until Matt was soft to take off the condom. Looking at the waste by the bed she said, “This is getting full, I’ll dump it now.” She carried everything to the kitchen before returning to her husband in bed.
+++
It was a Sunday evening a few weeks later. Matt had gone down to Yorkville, picked-up Italian food from Trattoria Nervosa, and had it warming in the oven when Julia arrived from the “Move with the Beats” competition in London. She looked tired but happy. “Hey, Baby,” she said as she entered the kitchen and kissed her husband on the cheek.
“Hey. How did it go?” asked Matt with genuine interest.
“We got a gold!” she squealed. “Ada was amazing! I screwed up one section, but they didn’t notice. Angela was there.” Angela was Julia’s friend since school and they were both working at the same company. “Guess what? She brought Opie!” Opie was the nickname for Angela’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, whose real name was Ron Howard.
“Anyone else I know?”
“No, Steven wasn’t there,” she said with a grin.
"How did you get there?"
"Ada drove. When she was home, she told Papa all about the competition and some big donor here in Toronto loaned her a car. It was a Jaguar!" She clapped her hands with glee. "It was gorgeous and comfortable and ohmygod it was so fast! I was sure we'd get a ticket!"
As they started eating, she sensed it was time to mention something.
“Have you signed those papers?”
Matt looked up with genuine surprise. “Shoot. I’m sorry, work’s really taken everything out of me and I haven’t had any time to look into the ‘Charlès Method’.” He did air quotes to show he wasn’t convinced.
That ticked her off and she said, “There’s a meeting near the hospital on Friday that I really need you to attend.”
“’Near the hospital’? What time? What’s it about?”
“It’s the middle of the afternoon, in someplace called ‘Mars’ or something. I’ll send you the full appointment.” Julia leveled her gaze directly at Matt and said, “I’m not kidding, Baby, this is so very important to me. I really need you to be there. Can you be there? Can I depend on you?”
Feeling like a heel, Matt capitulated. “Sure,” he promised. She grabbed a plate, stood up, turned her back and took the item to the sink. Matt couldn’t see Jules biting her lip or the worried look on her face.
+++
Friday morning, while still in bed, Matt read the news on his phone as usual. Startled, he checked further online then wasted zero time dressing and rushing out the door. “Matt!” Jules called, “Don’t you want breakfast?” She ran to the door and caught it before it closed. Spotting Matt at the elevator, she yelled, “Remember that appointment! You can’t miss…” The closing elevator doors cut her off.
Mick was already at work when Matt arrived and they shared a knowing look as a business analyst ran toward them. “Tariffs are going to hit Dominion Heavy Industries!” She exclaimed. “The overnight futures show a big drop for the opening!”
“Thanks,” said Matt, “We know.”
When the stock market opened, DHI had a ‘gap opening’ with a big drop in price from the previous day. Investors were selling the stock in a big panic, worried about the lost business, and because Dominion Heavy Industries sneezed, the rest of the market suddenly caught a cold.
Soon there was a crowd around the cubicles of Mick and Matt, watching phones and bigger screens.
“Why won’t AME cover?” whined a voice. Everyone was willing the system to buy back the stock—to end the slow torture.
“It’s still trying to squeeze out more profit,” said Matt blankly, hoping that was the answer. Then he felt a chill. “Shit,” he said, “The drop is going to hit the circuit-breaker rule.”
A voice asked, “What?”
“If a stock drops 10 percent or more in five minutes,” Matt explained, “the exchange will temporarily suspend trading. That’s supposed to decrease the volatility. With the pause, the price might stabilize, or even rise again.” Still staring at his screen, he said, “Come on, baby, cover the short, just cover the goddamned short.”
The price stabilized and everyone looked nervously at each other. Matt continued staring at his screen not registering when Mick picked up Matt’s phone and dialed a number. Mick plugged something into his ear and said to Matt, “Let me know the second anything happens.” Matt nodded as Mick put the live phone back on Matt’s desk and walked away saying, “Just don’t hang up!”
The slide in the stock price stopped and very slightly reversed for a few minutes. Matt hid his mouth with a hand and kept staring. “That’s not helping,” he said to the screen. “Do something. Put us out of our fucking misery.” Time dragged on.
And then the price of DHI went into free-fall.
“Fuck!” Matt yelled at his screen. “Cover the trade! Fucking cover the trade! The circuit-breaker is going to go off! Just cover the fu…”
Matt never finished that sentence as four things happened: bang, bang, bang, bang.
“YES!!!!” Matt roared as he threw his arms into the air.
The wiry man with the white stubble hung up the public pay phone at 120 Adelaide Street and briskly walked away.
Jesse Patterson yelled “BUY!” into his desk phone and simultaneously hung up his cell phone.
The man Matt and Mel knew as ‘Alan’ clapped his hands and pumped his fist into the air, startling those around him in the quiet office.
Three near-simultaneous large buy orders bumped the price of DHI up slightly, but the overall market was spooked and the downward slide resumed triggering the single-stock circuit-breaker rule temporarily halting all trades for Dominion Heavy Industries.
The news screens in all the offices and cubicles were alive with chatter about ‘over-sold’ and ‘the impact will be dampened with counter-tariffs and tax breaks’.
Matt felt a hand squeeze his shoulder and he turned his head to see old man Jacobs. The eyes twinkled at him and the partner gently said, “I knew my faith in our young genius was safe.” He looked at the next desk, frowned and asked, “At a time like this, where’s Mister Michaelis?”
“Right here,” said Matt’s cell phone from the desk. Mick continued, “Curfew will not ring tonight! Once again this shows why panic selling is a loser's move. Did it make much?” AME/HERMES had covered the short—it had bought back and returned the stock it had borrowed. Did it make anything or did it lose money because of the costs?
Matt punched some keys then gave an amount.
Mick’s voice chipped in, “Not bad at all. We’re celebrating after work!”
“And I think we’ll not short-sell again,” said Jacobs.
“Already done,” said Matt’s phone. “Matt has a fix ready to put in place.”
Suddenly feeling drained, Matt slumped in his chair. All the stress over the weeks…now gone. The widow-maker hadn’t killed them. Clients now knew they could trust the system and invest. He’d get a really nice bonus! Now, he had options! What should he do? What should he do first?
Five minutes passed without trading DHI and when it resumed the stock stabilized and started to climb back up as investors sensed a bargain. AME/HERMES had perfectly picked the lowest point of the stock price when it bought it back and the trailing two trades in its wake had slightly lower yields. Later, at his desk, Mick mused, it was as if HERMES knew the tariffs were coming. Nah. No way, it had to have been the typo and just how Matt’s rules analyzed the price movements. He got up, started to walk away, stopped, backed up and in an exaggerated fashion looked at Matt’s computer screen.
“Vancouver?” Mick wondered out loud. “You don’t let the grass grow under your feet do you, boy? As soon as you figure you’re allowed to leave, you start checking on flights.” Matt sheepishly shrugged. Mick straightened up. “So, how are you going to just disappear from home for a few days?” Matt sheepishly shrugged again. “Well,” continued Mick, “I can offer two solutions. After the fact, you can claim you were on a bender with Tequila and me. Or, I just might be able to give you some legit cover and have Jacobs pay your way. I’m sure there are a couple of firms managing Granny money on the ‘Wet Coast’ who will like a HERMES demo.” He then started walking away again and without looking back said, “Just remember my shotgun.”
“Where’s the celebration after work?” Matt called to Mick’s back.
“The Rec Room—call it an adult version of Chuck E. Cheese—it’s kitty-corner from the Roger’s Center in the Round House.” Mick had mysteriously found some money for a team celebration—but, after all, it was Mick so there wasn’t a real mystery. He stopped walking. “Why?”
“I might have to meet you there, got an appointment,” Matt called to Mick’s back then he checked his phone. There were no messages and he soon had to head up to MaRS—the center that commercialized publicly-funded medical research –for the appointment Jules had insisted he attend. He really wanted to be back for the celebration and he had no clue what the appointment was about. Jules had told him in no uncertain terms not to miss it. There should be enough time to walk it and he really wanted some time to himself. Meh, so he’d be a little late.
Matt grabbed a coffee to go, walked over to University Avenue and once again started walking north. He breathed deeply, his gut felt great. The first thought was that he really needed to see Mel and come to a resolution. From there, a number of other things could be planned out. It was amazing how trapped he’d felt by the AME problem. He breathed deeply again: thank God that was all over.
Matt indeed was a few minutes late, partly because of trouble finding the meeting room. When he slipped into the back, he spotted Jules and Adrianna sitting together, about mid-way up the sparsely-populated room. On a stage at the front sat a row of people in business dress and Normand Charlès Jr. looking very uncomfortable. Matt felt a smack on his shoulders and turned to a grinning Alexandre.
“Exciting times, non? Congratulations, by the way,” said the tall, handsome man as he held his hand out to Matt.
Matt was confused but automatically took the hand. “Congratulations? You mean the trade?”
“Trade? What trade? I meant the baby,” said the man, clearly puzzled. Matt said nothing, looking confused. “You don’t know about the baby?” asked Alexandre. Matt shook his head.
“Merde,” said the other man, frowning. “Wait here. This isn’t right.” He walked over and moved into the row behind Matt’s wife and her friend. There was an animated, though hushed, conversation, during which Jules, looking frightened, kept glancing in Matt’s direction. Alexandre returned to Matt and gestured him outside the room and into the expansive, glass-covered atrium. He took a deep breath then said, “Normand has developed a new assisted reproductive technology that essentially injects the egg with a pack of DNA.” He smiled, clearly proud with what he was saying. “It’s a pack we create—you can call it bespoke sperm.”
“Normand offered some treatment to us, so I know something about it. We still haven’t officially signed up yet.”
Alexandre gave Matt a quizzical look and then continued, “Normand developed the delivery system, if you will, and I am the DNA expert. I make the product, he puts it together in a package and then he delivers it. We’ve pushed the technology even further and they are announcing that a woman is now carrying a baby from this synthetic in vitro fertilization made from a unique source. It is incredibly exciting.”
Matt nodded and shrugged, “OK. Why am I here?”
Alexandre’s frowned. “I’m sorry; you’ll have to wait to hear the rest.”
Matt felt uneasy and had to ask, “Julia’s not carrying this baby, is she?”
Alexandre clearly weighed his words then said, “Julia is not carrying the baby that they are announcing, and they’re keeping the identity of the mother from the public. I’m sorry, I can’t say anymore, please wait.”
Matt returned to the room, sat at the back and tried to follow what remained of the dry presentation. Julia kept glancing back with a very worried look. A palpable buzz grew in the room as the conference progressed, but Matt felt agitated and wanted it over.
When it was finally done, Alexandre tapped Matt again, “Stay here—I’ll come and get you.” He then left Matt, collected the two women and joined Normand at the front of the room. They left together through a side door. Matt had no idea what to think.
Ten-minutes later, the five of them—Matt, Normand, Adrianna, Alexandre and a clearly-distressed Julia—were in Normand’s office. The women were sitting side-by-side and the men were all standing.
Alexandre started by talking angrily to Normand, “As I explained, we don’t have any signed consent forms from Mr. Adams and he has not been informed of anything that impacts him. You give lip-service to administration and paper-work, but the ethics committee will crucify you over this. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve jeopardized your funding.” He pushed the desk chair toward Matt. “Please, Matt, have a seat.” When Matt had settled beside Julia, Alexandre continued, “Matt, as I mentioned, Normand has developed a technique to create a package to inseminate a human egg from custom DNA—which I isolate. As we just announced, we have moved to a clinical trial to inseminate one woman’s egg with the genetic material of another woman. For the first time, there will be a baby from two women, without use of a man’s sperm.”
Matt had tried to follow the announcement earlier, but was too distracted. The news stunned him. Adrianna stood and moved to Matt. “Matthew, I am the woman whose pregnancy was just announced. I am going to have a baby and she will be from Hoolia. I am sorry that you didn’t know.” She looked at Julia, who had tears running down her cheeks... “But Hoolia tells me that she had no idea how to tell you.”
Julia reached out and grabbed Matt’s hand, “I’m sorry, Baby. I couldn’t explain it and…and…” She looked up at Matt and her lip trembled, “There’s more.”
“More?” Matt calmly asked. “There’s more than a spouse having a baby without telling their partner? How on Earth would you have reacted if I told you that I’m having a baby with another woman?” Julia’s other hand went up to her mouth.
Normand shifted and frowned. “I don’t see that as the same thing at all. We used the genetic material of two women…”
“How is it different from using the genetic material of a woman and a man in the traditional sense?” countered Matt.
“Of course, you have a point,” said Alexandre, gesturing everyone to calm down. “The communications of this situation have not been handled well.”
Adrianna sat beside Jules again, put an arm around her and said, “Matthew, it has not been handled well, but the situation remains. I am having a baby with Hoolia, and I couldn’t be happier. It is unfortunate that you were not informed, but it has happened.” Holy fuck, thought Matt—looking at the two women and remembering the photograph— Adrianna is having a baby with the ghost of her dead fiancé, the one Jules cut her hair to look like. Adrianna paused and then said, “And there is more.”
Julia gripped Matt harder and looked at him. “Baby, I agreed to this because it included an offer to help with our own family.”
“Which we haven’t followed-up with,” cut in Matt.
Julia looked down and Adrianna squeezed her shoulder saying, “Tell him, Hoolia.”
Julia looked up and said, “Baby, you kept putting off signing, but…but…but the timing was right, and I figured you would eventually sign anyway. I just knew it.” She looked up at him. “You’ve told me over-and-over we have to grow up and that you want a family. That one night, you just said you wanted to wait a bit. But everything was perfectly ready—it was all in place. So I went ahead…”
SMACK! The sound was Alexandre slapping his own forehead.
“What are you saying, Jules?” asked Matt. “Are you pregnant?”
“…yes....”
“Is it mine, Julia?”
“Matt!” yelled Julia. “Matthew!” Adrianna exploded simultaneously. The Lioness’ eyes flashed and she looked ready to lunge from the chair.
Matt’s vision tunneled as he glanced around to Adrianna, to Julia, back to Adrianna and then finally to Normand. The strong, athletic woman was a mother; Matt’s wife, the most feminine person in the world was a father and, at the same time, a mother; and Adrianna and Normand, the man who made this happen, were sister and brother.
Normand cleared his throat and said, “Mr. Adams, we have implanted into Julia, an embryo from her own egg, inseminated by material from you. Congratulations! You’re having a baby!” He looked around clearly puzzled, “Why isn’t everyone celebrating? My wife and I would be overjoyed!” Matt’s gut started to ache again.
_____________________________________________________
“The more the world is changing
“The more it stays the same
“Life is full of small surprises
“It's a never ending game
“If nothing is impossible
“Will you believe your eyes
“If the unexpected brings a smile
“That's a big surprise
“Surprise, surprise, the unexpected hits you between the eyes
“The unpredictable, that's the surprise you see, surprise! Surprise!”
Last edited by FreshStart on Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Suchen Zucker
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
heh, what could possibly go wrong?
This is an entertaining read for sure. Very creative situation. I have no feeling/sympathy for Julia. She is like a stranger. To me, she has no love for Matt but is just using him, stringing him along. At least he seems to be realizing it.
This is an entertaining read for sure. Very creative situation. I have no feeling/sympathy for Julia. She is like a stranger. To me, she has no love for Matt but is just using him, stringing him along. At least he seems to be realizing it.
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Suchen Zucker, I agree.Suchen Zucker wrote:heh, what could possibly go wrong?
This is an entertaining read for sure. Very creative situation. I have no feeling/sympathy for Julia. She is like a stranger. To me, she has no love for Matt but is just using him, stringing him along. At least he seems to be realizing it.
At the end of the last chapter, Normand penetrates Jules in a love session with Ada.
Now it seems Jules is pregnant and it feels like a conspiracy to make Matt believe he’s the father of Normand’s baby.
I can’t tell if Jules loves Matt or just loves fucking with him. Would a woman do that to a guy she loves? I get cuckolding, but really?
Mon dieu, Monsieur Matt! Cours vite! Tout de suite, pas demain!
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Suchen Zucker
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Unlike Xleglover's "Mike" character, Matt has the advantage of realizing feelings for another woman (Melissa Rougier). He's seeing that Jules is not the only possible mate for him. Perhaps he is having second thoughts about having a child with Jules which would kinda chain him into a future with someone who could be a poor mother as well as a wife who can be dismissive of his feelings. This latest deception might be unforgivable.
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
I agree with you, but Matt’s been in the same ‘realizing feeling for Mel’ position for most of the story.Suchen Zucker wrote:Unlike Xleglover's "Mike" character, Matt has the advantage of realizing feelings for another woman (Melissa Rougier). He's seeing that Jules is not the only possible mate for him. Perhaps he is having second thoughts about having a child with Jules which would kinda chain him into a future with someone who could be a poor mother as well as a wife who can be dismissive of his feelings. This latest deception might be unforgivable.
I’m thinking Jules wants to force Matt to stay with her while she continues to fuck around. He’s not her soulmate, he’s her ever present back up plan.
I hope he figures out the plot, and dumps her.
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Suchen Zucker
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Okay, so FreshStart is having fun misdirecting us. Jules was penetrated, but not with Normand's penile instrument. He was collecting her eggs. Well done Fresh!FreshStart wrote:Part 5: Bull fighting, bulls fighting and mad cow in a Barbie World"
When he got to the condo, the hallway was again dark from the master suite. He turned the corner and saw a golden glow from the guestroom. WTF? Surely those two weren’t…
He peeked through the small crack of the door and saw Julia, dressed as he'd left her, kneeling on the bed and holding two hands, which were all he could see of Adrianna. Jules looked like she was crying…no…laughing…no… It was hard to tell. She wiped her cheek with a hand and with a combination laugh and sob said, “Yes! I mean, I do! I mean, I will! Oh, I have no idea how to say it!”
“You’ve said all I need to hear,” said Adrianna’s voice. “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me.”
“Ohmygod, you’ve made ME so happy!” sobbed/laughed Jules. The women hugged. “I love you so much.”
“Je t’aime, Hoolia.”
Matt fell back as if pushed. What was this about? Did Jules just agree to marry the woman? Was he getting a divorce? He silently moved down the hall, closed the door on the master suite, got onto the bed, folded an arm over his forehead, and tried to decide what he’d seen—and what he could or would do.
After he’d left the guestroom door, Matt missed what Jules said next. With a laugh she squeezed both of Ada’s hands saying, “I guess I’m going to grow up.” Then a thought occurred to her. “And the timing’s right."
++++
Matt gave Julia a lot of space and a bit of the silent treatment the next day. He was wary; he was waiting to see what happened next. Were they going to have a “talk”? Was he going to get a “Dear Matt” letter? Was he going to be served with divorce papers? When he got to work, he spent more time than usual, three storeys up, doubled up in the men’s room. It was a hell he couldn’t recall.
By midday Matt finally made it back to his desk. He had no idea that right at that moment, Julia was on her back on a bed, looking up at Ada, who was kneeling beside her.
“Are you okay?” asked the Frenchwoman, stroking the blonde hair. Julia nodded. Ada continued, “I can’t believe that the timing of your cycle worked out so perfectly.”
Julia smiled and said, “I can’t believe this is happening.” She touched the other woman’s face and wistfully said, “So beautiful.”
“Oh, no,” replied the black-haired lioness. “You are. And what you are doing is incredibly beautiful.” This was followed by a short peck on the lips.
“I know.”
“Are you ready?” Ada asked with a breathy, seductive voice while tracing Julia's covered, erect nipple with one finger.
“You have no idea…”
“Mon Dieu, this is getting me aroused.”
There was movement at the bottom of the bed and both women looked over at the man moving between Julias’ legs. Then the women turned back to each other and started a long kiss. Julia Adams winced and smiled into the kiss as she was penetrated by Adrianna’s brother, Normand Charlès Jr.
Last edited by Suchen Zucker on Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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FreshStart
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Suchen Zucker wrote: Okay, so FreshStart is having fun misdirecting us. Jules was penetrated, but not with Normand's penile instrument. He was collecting her eggs. Well done Fresh!
Thanks SZ! I was seriously considering putting a stronger hint into the next chapter because of JJ's comment. Thanks for this.
Next chapter is either sooner or later. If it isn't out soon, I have a block of Real Life stuff that will interfere. So, it will be out next weekend or in three weeks.
Stay frosty.
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
I’ll admit, you fooled me.FreshStart wrote:Suchen Zucker wrote: Okay, so FreshStart is having fun misdirecting us. Jules was penetrated, but not with Normand's penile instrument. He was collecting her eggs. Well done Fresh!
Thanks SZ! I was seriously considering putting a stronger hint into the next chapter because of JJ's comment. Thanks for this.
Next chapter is either sooner or later. If it isn't out soon, I have a block of Real Life stuff that will interfere. So, it will be out next weekend or in three weeks.
Stay frosty.
It was an interesting ploy with the pregnancy question. On one hand, if Jules really got pregnant by Normand, it would be unforgivable. On the other hand, getting inseminated with Matt’s sperm, is forgivable.
Still think she’s trying to trap Matt while she plays around, but only you know that.
Either way Matt loses.
Your writing has really improved in this story!
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cumlover435
- Virgin
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:28 am
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Wow....just read the whole thing from start to now and all I can say is....I used to check this forum for Xleg updates but. Freshstart will now be the one I look for!
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FreshStart
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Just so we don't start another "Paul is dead" theme on this thread too--as I suggested, ran out of time this week to publish. Because of that I took a day off writing to watch the last two World Cup games I'll see live for 2018. So sue me. The plan is to publish July 20.FreshStart wrote: Next chapter is either sooner or later. If it isn't out soon, I have a block of Real Life stuff that will interfere. So, it will be out next weekend or in three weeks.
Stay frosty.
Wow... talk about pressure, but thanks!cumlover435 wrote:Wow....just read the whole thing from start to now and all I can say is....I used to check this forum for Xleg updates but. Freshstart will now be the one I look for!
In other news...Fresh had the time to wander through the local "farmers' market". Odd since the closest farmer was over an hour's drive away. He got half way through and got a free coffee courtesy of a neighborhood real estate agent. He insisted on a mug, not paper cup. Grabbing a napkin, he continued walking. When he came to the cheese stall, he couldn't resist. Wallace of "Wallace and Gromit" has nothing on Fresh regarding love of cheese. Two buffalo and one sheep's milk cheese purchases later, he noticed that the cheese was wrapped in yellow paper. Gotcha! He raced back to confront the young cheese monger and pulled out the offending... plain yellow paper.
Oops. No problem. Have a great day.
He drifted back to drop off the coffee mug and plopped his remaining change into the 'volunteer tips' mug. It was only after he had walked half way home that he discovered that the original napkin was the dreaded yellow paper. With a sigh, he read:
"So I'm headed home early. As I said, a no lose situation.
"Just done reading 'Trading'..impressive. Excellent read lots of 'whats gonna happen next?' Adriana excellent addition to the plot, the preggers a very nice twist. Wonder what steven will say....
"Enjoyed it looking forward to the next part..
"BTW: my contacts have a word or two about 'Alan'...heehee...nuff said.
"I bet you'll buy at least one buffalo cheese. You can take the boy out of South Africa but...
"Enjoy
"DT"
_______________
"Ya can't roller skate in a buffalo herd
"Ya can't roller skate in a buffalo herd
"Ya can't roller skate in a buffalo herd
"But you can be happy if you've a mind to"
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rh17
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Personally I would much rather be penetrated by a turkey baster than a penile instrument. Like, 100 times out of 100. But that's just me...Suchen Zucker wrote:
Okay, so FreshStart is having fun misdirecting us. Jules was penetrated, but not with Normand's penile instrument. He was collecting her eggs. Well done Fresh!
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cumlover435
- Virgin
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:28 am
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Why couldn't it be both?rh17 wrote:Personally I would much rather be penetrated by a turkey baster than a penile instrument. Like, 100 times out of 100. But that's just me...Suchen Zucker wrote:
Okay, so FreshStart is having fun misdirecting us. Jules was penetrated, but not with Normand's penile instrument. He was collecting her eggs. Well done Fresh!
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FreshStart
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
[Freshnote: hands up, those who saw this coming...]
Part 7: Who gets the last laugh now?
“Well,” said Mick, “I can empathize with the situation somewhat.”
They were at the ‘Irish Embassy’ after work. When Matt asked if they could talk, Mick had immediately sensed they would need beer.
“How so?” Matt asked. “Did your wife have a baby with another woman too?”
Mick chuckled. “No,” he replied, “I certainly can’t empathize with that part of what’s happened.” He shifted in his seat and had another sip of beer, “What I meant was that my wife and I were on opposite sides of the great ‘start a family’ divide. I wasn’t ready and I kept telling her so—or so I thought. One time we had a conversation and later she told me she was convinced that I had agreed it was time. Well, you know what happened. Yeah, I left the birth control stuff in her hands—tell me what guy doesn’t? We don’t have periods.” He shrugged. “But you know what? It’s good that it happened. Kids become a real focus to life and that wouldn’t have happened without that misunderstanding. I regret nothing and my kids make me damn proud. But you have your own feelings.”
Matt looked down into his beer. “I have no idea what to say to Mel and I could just imagine her face if I told her I wanted to leave Jules with a new baby.” He looked back at Mick, “Please don’t say anything to her.”
“It’s not my business and I have no idea what to tell her,” he replied. “What IS my business is that you’re honest with my good friend.”
“Of course. I guess I’m not buying that ticket to Vancouver,” mumbled Matt without enthusiasm. “Then again, maybe a little vacation will help with closure.”
+++
When Jules found out Matt was hanging at the ‘Irish Embassy’ after work, she persuaded the group from her office to go to ‘Hooch Hour’ at the ‘Prohibition Gastro Pub’. It was almost next door to the Adams’ condo. She’d let Matt know, and he swung by to pick her up on the way home. It didn’t take him long to find them and he hung back to watch for a bit. Julia was sitting on Steven’s lap, laughing at the top of her lungs. The handsome man was smiling back at her and when she turned to look at him, he pulled her into a smoldering kiss as the group around them cheered. They certainly were a good-looking couple, Matt’s penis twitched, but his gut started a mild ache.
That’s when Angie, Julia’s friend since school, sidled up beside him and shared the show.
“Never a dull moment in Adamsville,” said Jules’ friend, without turning. “So does it turn you on that she’s carrying his baby?”
Matt spun toward her, “What? Did she tell you that?”
Angie’s eyes smiled at him. “Relax, she told me it’s yours, but he’s been responsible for a rumour that it’s actually his. Who do you think is the dad?” When Matt didn’t answer, she turned back to the show and said, “I heard all about the weird science at Mount Sinai. I’m just teasing you—to me, you’ll always be her DIP.” Matt winced at ‘DIP’—it was Angie’s way to needle him as it meant Julia had Matt’s ‘Dick In her Purse’.
“How’s Yoyo Boy?” Matt shot back. It was his way of needling Angie by describing how she had a man on a string—she would throw Ron Howard away then jerk her finger and he’d come back.
At that her head whipped around and they glared at each other. Then their faces softened and both started to laugh.
“Opie’s good; he should be here shortly.” She turned back to Jules and Steven to see the two being cheered on as they continued their long kiss. One of Steven’s hands was behind Julia’s head to hold her into the kiss while the other was somewhere up Julia’s thigh underneath her skirt. Both of the woman’s hands were trying to limit the moves of the hand under the clothes. “Is this still a thing in Adamsville, watching her with him?”
Matt considered an answer before saying in all honesty, “Things have changed over time. Now, it no longer feels like a game—things have become too serious and life isn’t a fantasy.”
“I can see something’s changed,” the woman replied, “She’s not having as much fun as she used to. Look at her now. He’s holding her so she can’t escape and she’s trying to control his hands. Don’t tell her, or it will end a couple of friendships, but dick head made a pass at me. I wonder if he’s planning ahead for when his girlfriend’s too fat to be sexy.”
“Some men get really turned on by that.” He searched internally to see if he was one of them and felt a subtle stirring, “We should go. Jules gets tired easy these days and she won’t be drinking anyway.”
“Shall I get her for you to relieve any…um…awkwardness?”
“Thanks, Ang.”
“I get the feeling I’m rescuing her, anyway.”
With the subway construction, they couldn’t cross Eglinton so Matt and Julia walked to Yonge Street. “You didn’t look all that comfortable with your boyfriend,” said Matt. “Aren’t you two supposed to be out in the open?” He was referring to the fact that the people at work thought Matt and Julia were estranged and she’d taken up with Steven.
“He was being a shit,” she replied. “He’s so demanding now.” They got to the corner where Jules said, “I’ve already put in an order at Grazie. Why don’t you walk up and get it while I set the table?” Grazie had the best Italian takeout in the neighborhood and was just up Yonge Street, so Matt turned right while Julia turned left.
Just earlier, Steven Spears had also left Prohibition and turned toward Yonge Street. He was quite worked up after the public playing with Julia and wanted some relief. She was his anyway, so he walked briskly to catch her.
When Matt entered the condo with the food and made the turn in the hall away from the bedrooms he stopped. It was the unmistakable sound of loud kissing. Once at the end of the hall, he found Jules astride the lap and kissing the face of Steven Spears. One of the man’s hands was firmly on the woman’s hip while the other was behind her head. Matt’s erection had started involuntarily with the sound and now, was quite rampant. He hated how his body betrayed him, but he came to the realization that the sight did more to anger him than to turn him on.
“Don’t get up on my account,” he bitterly said to the couple.
His wife’s head turned to him and he was surprised by the unhappy look on her face. She held out her hand to him.
“Put the food on the island and come here…please?”
Not sure why, he complied.
Julia pulled him to the couch where he sat close beside the couple. She leaned over and proceeded to make slow love to her husband’s mouth, while she almost-unperceptively moved up and down. When it was clear that he was responding, she pulled back and slyly looked down. Matt’s eyes followed her gaze and she slid her loose skirt up inch-by-inch until he could see that she was impaled on the other man’s huge rod—otherwise the couple were fully clothed. Matt looked over to see Steven now sitting impassively with his head resting on the back of the furniture with eyes closed and a frown on his face. Both his hands were firmly on the woman’s hips and were responsible for the subtle movement. Matt looked back to Julia’s face and with a look of almost relief, she leaned forward to reengage her husband as she was moved up-and-down on her lover’s cock.
“You feel a bit dry, Jules,” said Steven.
She quickly wet some fingers and reached down to stimulate herself. It was also clear to the woman that her husband wasn’t feeling the love, so she put one hand behind his head so he couldn’t escape then started undoing his belt and opening his pants with the other. When she had access, she briefly stopped the kiss, wet some fingers again, reengaged the kiss and started playing with her husband’s penis. It took longer than she wanted, but soon both men were responding.
That’s when she slid off Steven and kneeling on the floor, took him into her mouth while still holding Matt’s dick. Steven sighed with the positive change in stimulus. Then Jules released Steven with a ‘pop’ and gobbled up her husband’s smaller manhood. When Matt closed his eyes, Julia stood up and pulled both confused men to their feet. She gave each a smoldering kiss with tongue and then slid to her knees. With a cock in each hand she pulled the reluctant men closer until she could lash back-and-forth with her tongue over both.
Looking up she grinned, “Wouldn’t it be hot to blow both of you at the same time?” She pulled the two organs together until she could put her mouth over both tips. But Steven was so thick that she could only get him in, or she could get all of Matt in with just the very tiny tip of Steven.
As Jules continued her ministrations the cocks touched and Steven whined, “Jules, this is so gay.” But she felt the betrayal in the man’s cock and she quickly concentrated on it. Matt knew the moment Steven came in Julia’s mouth as both participants signalled it. Then she looked up at Matt and opened her mouth showing the creamy contents.
Standing up, Julia tried to kiss Matt, who pulled back with clear revulsion on his face. Showing disappointment, she dropped back to her knees and looked up at both men to ensure they were looking down. Then, still holding both cocks, she looked down and the men watched a white stream of Steven’s discharge dribble from her mouth and onto Matt’s cock—who had no recourse but to let it happen.
Then she quickly looked up grinning and said, “Wouldn’t it be so incredibly hot for Steven to cum on you?” Ignoring the look on her husband’s face, she took his cock into her mouth to further spread the manly discharge over it. Then she sucked it to clean it off and tried and tried to get him to also come in her mouth.
With a sly grin, Steven announced that it was time he left. As Julia watched him go with a mixture of relief and disappointment it occurred to her that neither she nor her husband had an orgasm the entire time. After dinner, she successfully blew her husband then had him go down on her while she closed her eyes, played with her nipples and thought of Ada. It was so worth it.
+++
Alexandre put a paper cup down on the desk in front of the petite dark woman with the short hair. She looked up, smiled and in a ‘Trinbago’ accent said, “Decaf Americano…”
“With coconut milk,” finished the man with the GQ looks.
“You wouldn’t be looking for something….like a quick turnaround, would you?” she asked broadening her smile.
“Not at all! I’m cut to the quick. But, since you mention it, what is a typical turnaround?” He was asking for the turnaround of isolating (by centrifuge) DNA and then getting it sequenced (broken down to see its parts).
“It take’s half a day to get all the samples loaded up and spun,” she replied. “Then there’s the transfer to the sequencer plus a day to sequence. That’s the actual time it takes, but samples have to get in line. Will you be looking at the results yourself or do you need some analysis done?”
“I absolutely will look at the results myself. Is there much of a backlog?”
“We always have some slots in reserve for urgent studies, but yeah, it usually takes a week.”
“Even with a decaf Americano and coconut milk?” he winked.
“That would need an iced mocha at minimum,” she replied.
“And a jelly donut? You do know we have a world-famous baby on the way.”
“So I heard. A pack of Timbits would help—I’ll need to spread them around,” she winked back, indicating the popular bite-sized donuts.
Three days later Alexandre was stunned. He was comparing two samples that should have been identical. How could they be so different? What did he do wrong? It took time tracing his steps to conclude he had done nothing wrong. If that was the case, what did it mean? On a hunch, he went back, pulled two samples and had them isolated and sequenced. Four days later, he sat hunched over, wondering, “Bon dieu, qu'est ce qui s'est passé, putain? On fait quoi maintenant?” [Good God, what the fuck happened? What do we do now?]
+++
The man Matt and Mel knew as ‘Alan’ stepped into the meeting room and closed the door. Again, there was a screen at one end with the visage of a scowling man. Once ‘Alan’ was seated, the visage spoke.
“The trade succeeded,” it said.
When no one else spoke, ‘Alan’ said, “Yes, it was the final piece to start the new system working on its own. It is still not up to the performance of the Cooper-Hatch system, but it is still learning. Some of the things it does, we can’t explain directly from our programming as it has its own learned complexity. Covering the short sell was a self-generated action.”
“How long before the performance improves and it is better than the other system?”
“That’s not predictable. We will watch and tinker, but the majority of the improvements will now come internally—from within the system.”
“That is all from you.”
‘Alan’ got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, the voice said, “We no longer need him, ensure he will not divulge our secrets.” The screen abruptly went dark.
‘Alan’ walked unhurried, but straight, to his desk where he typed two words on the keyboard, hit ‘Enter’, typed one more word, hit ‘Enter’ and then he walked to the main door and slipped out of the office. Nothing on his desk was touched; it was as if he was still there.
++++
When he got home that day, Matt found Julia crashed out on the sofa. He walked over and sat on the other end. Automatically the woman put her feet onto her husband’s lap and wiggled them for a massage. He sighed, and complied.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
She didn’t open her eyes, “I am so tired, Baby.” He thought: you never look tired with Steven. Then she asked, “Did you see the gifts?”
“Two packages on the coffee table?”
“My Mother sent me ‘the christening gown’ from Dad’s side of the family,” she said with her voice heavy with resignation. “It’s made from my great-grandmother’s wedding dress.”
“I guess we’re supposed to be going to church,” Matt chuckled.
“They’ll drag us all the way out to Kingston for the christening,” she whined.
Matt reached over and opened the smaller and harder of the two packages, expecting it not to be the gown. Inside was a pink box labeled, “Bump Boxes 1st Trimester Pregnancy Gift Box”. It included “a set of month-marking belly stickers perfect for Instagram photos.”
“Who’s the other one from?” he asked, wondering who was interested in tracking the pregnancy.
“Don’t get mad,” she quickly said. “That’s from Steven’s mother.”
Matt warily asked, “Why should I get mad, Julia?”
She sat up and pulled her knees into her chest, hugging them. “She thinks the baby is Steven’s.”
“Why would she think that, Julia? Is it?” There was a sharpness in his voice.
“I told you not to get mad!” she wailed. “I had to tell him I was pregnant because of all of the extra ‘high-risk pregnancy’ appointments we have at Mount Sinai. He put two-and-two together and said it must be his. I’ve been trying to get him to stop.”
Warily her husband asked, “What two-and-two did he put together, Jules?”
She was quiet a moment. “He knew you and I were using condoms…”
“How the fuck would he know that?”
“He did. And he just assumed that since I wasn’t insisting that he use one…”
“Remember that joke your gynecologist told before you went back on the pill? You said for birth control we were using rhythm and condom, and she finished your sentence by saying, ‘and prayer!’” With a hard stare at his wife, he then evenly asked, “Did he slip one past the goalie while you waited for me to sign the papers, Julia? Is it really my baby?”
She burst into tears, sprang from the sofa and ran down the hall. “YES!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “I know I deserve this, but YES. IT’S. YOURS! YES! YES! YES!” The master bedroom door slammed.
Matt felt like an idiot and went to his wife. She was quietly crying on the bed. He sat beside her and gently turned her to him and into a hug.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that…” Unsure of how to finish that sentence, he said, “I watched you with him at ‘Prohibition’ and later as well, you continued to be so into him. You act like he is the man of your life, so naturally, it feels like the baby could be his, should be his—especially since things didn’t happen ‘naturally’.”
He was surprised when she asked, “What if it is his baby? Remember you wanted this.” That stabbed right into Matt. She continued, “You wanted me to have sex with others. Then it was you who wanted me to have feelings for someone. You got what you wanted and now I’m just supposed to deny my feelings and drop a man who has become part of my life.”
“How does Adrianna fit into this?”
Julia looked like she had been slapped. “That’s different—completely different. What we share is beyond anything two people can ever share.”
Matt considered for a moment then completely bewildered asked, “Then where do Steven and I fit?”
Now Julia considered for a moment. “I’m not lesbian, Ada knows this. We’re both on a scale and I’m…closer to one end of the scale and love men too. That’s why…” She looked like she didn’t know how to explain it. Gently clasping her husband’s hand she said, “You’re my husband. We promised to support each other for life. And I do love you so much. Steven is my lover…no, he's more than my lover, he’s my boyfriend—so strong, so smart, so gorgeous.”
Matt quietly thought about what she said before replying, “I know you’re not my cell phone, but this is real life and not some picture with a cute caption that you send me from a porn site. We are now responsible for another person, so shouldn’t we be considering what’s best for them?” He got up, walked to the window and looked out saying, “Is this the best place for a child to grow up?” He then dramatically closed the curtains and the small condo bedroom suddenly looked its size. “Do we want to be cramped, 11 floors up, pressed to find a park to play in? Is this a good way for a family to live? And shouldn’t we have a stable environment for a family? I’m not saying we can never have exciting games again, but shouldn’t we stop or at least pause things?”
“I want a house, Jules,” he continued. “And I don’t want to pretend I’m living in some fanciful polyandry utopia. I’m really sorry if this hurts you, but being the pretend father or even the stepfather for the child of a man like Steven was never my goal in life.”
“Matt, I get that—but you ARE the father. And can you get that being like my mother, stuck in the middle of nowhere with a life that was all children and housework was never MY goal in life? Didn’t we move here because we hated the burbs and that we wanted excitement?”
“Of course we did. But it doesn’t have to be either Dundas Square or Bum-fuck-nowhere –it’s not a choice between Yonge-and-Eglinton or someplace like Barrie or Scarberia.” Barrie was where Julia grew up and ‘Scarberia’ was the pejorative for Scarborough, the suburb where Matt grew up and as a bored teen had nothing to do and nowhere to go. “That’s what my bonus was all about—with it, we can move to the Beach or Riverdale or Leslieville: someplace with a real house but still in the city. We can go to the zoo; we can go the museum; we can go to the Science Center; we can go the Island; and getting back-and-forth to work won’t take all fucking day…” He trailed off into silence.
She was quiet for a while. Looking up at her husband, she said, “I did everything I was supposed to do to make this your baby, Matt.” Her eyes got moist. “And it really, really hurts with Steven. I hope you’re happy.”
++++
At work the next day, Matt got a text from Adrianna asking him if he was available at a specific time. He replied, suggesting a more convenient alternative and was surprised when, at the appointed time, he went out to reception looking for Adrianna…and met someone entirely different.
++++
When Matt got home, Julia was again on the couch with a cloth over her eyes. He asked, “Do you want him to come over?” He saw her visibly brighten under the cloth, but not nearly as much as he anticipated. He continued, “If you had to cut a puppy’s tail off, you wouldn’t do it a bit at a time—you’d do it all at once. But it’s up to you.”
She almost whispered, “Yes, I’d like to have him over.”
“He uses a condom.”
She shot to a sitting position, “Why? It doesn’t matter anymore!”
“It does to me. I’m serious; afterwards, you’ll have to show it to me.”
“But, you’ll be there…” and she reached over to touch him, to show him.
“No, Jules. This is just the two of you, in the guest room. You WILL show me the evidence afterwards. I’m not going to get turned into his bitch; not by you, not by anyone.”
Later that evening, naked and looking disappointed, Julia brought something from the guestroom to Matt. She hadn’t noticed how he’d quickly put his dick away and tossed a towel behind the couch. Straddling her husband she lifted the drooping rubber up to his face and tried to pour its contents on his mouth. With a flash of anger, he grabbed the condom, threw his wife off his lap and walked to the kitchen where he grabbed some paper towels.
Surprised and disappointed, Julia got up and ran back to the bedroom.
In the quiet of the early morning, Julia curled up with Matt in their bed. She tried all the tricks she could think of and eventually, she got her husband going—determined, she was going to get him to either eat her out or fuck her in anger the way he had that one night. She had not cum at all with her boyfriend and, desperately needing release, she finally got it from an angry, thrusting Matt.
++++
It was a quiet week following that. Matt was working late again and the single time Jules, guiltily, went to Steven’s apartment, she ended up going to see Ada afterwards for some tender affection and release. The two women were together most other evenings that week with Ada always bringing Jules home to the condo. Matt never touched Julia.
Then all hell broke loose Friday. Normand’s office called Julia late Thursday and insisted on an appointment the following afternoon. She was confused, as they had so far made all the scheduled meetings. Then Matt texted her, to make sure she would meet him at Mount Sinai.
She would later remember it as a perfect day in Toronto, as it was warm, but the energy-sapping humidity had been washed out of the air the previous evening. Julia wasn’t late, but Matt was already in the waiting area when she arrived and they were immediately ushered into the office. Normand and Alexandre were waiting.
Normand was pawing through a folder on the desk and seemed to be having difficulty looking at the Adams.
“I…ah…we…ah…asked for this meeting to let you know of some…ah…irregularities with your…ah…pregnancy,” he stammered. “We’ve been trying to pinpoint the cause, but it…ah…” Finding it too difficult, he looked at Alexandre and basically gave up.
With a glance at Normand and an annoyed sigh, the GQ-model-like scientist stepped forward. “I sampled the DNA off of the foetus for our studies. Basically, I wanted to ensure there were no abnormalities but I discovered a mismatch between what I thought was the intended sample and the foetus.”
“How is my baby?” Julia demanded, interrupting.
“He appears perfectly healthy,” interjected Normand, gesturing with his hands as if to settle the woman.
“He?” she immediately asked.
Alexandre shot Normand a look that could kill. “Our apologies,” he said. “We should have asked if you wanted to know the sex, but it was the Y chromosome, one specifically of origin from the father, that alerted me to the…mismatch. To ensure everything was as it should be, I compared it to a sample from the…material you supplied.”
“What was that, Jules?” Matt quietly asked.
She looked down and said, “I kept the condoms we used and gave them to Alexandre.”
“I read up, and there are special deep freeze containers for sperm samples,” said Matt.
“That’s part of our technique,” said Normand, clearly more comfortable to brag about his work. “Since Alexandre isolates and packages the DNA for insertion, we don’t need to store the sperm as normal. We have a simple container that can be kept in the fridge.”
“So,” continued Alexandre, “I used some material from one prophylactic to create the original package for insemination. Later, I did a comparison of the foetal DNA against one of the other prophylactics supplied.”
Matt looked at Jules and asked, “How many did you supply?”
She thought a moment then sounding uncertain said, “Four?”
“Five,” said Alexandre. “I randomly chose the one with the greatest contents. The foetal Y chromosome was not the same as the random, second sample. So I had to confirm my results and the foetal Y did in fact match the condom from which I made the package.” He paused to prepare the next sentence, “But the prophylactic I used is from a different man than the one who provided the other 4. I then made sure the complete DNA was a match for the same sample; fortunately it was, so everything otherwise is normal. Following that, I contacted Ada, then Mr. Adams to identify the possible origin of that sample. Mr. Adams then rather unconventionally supplied a match.”
“I’m confused,” said Julia. “What are you saying?
“Julia,” Matt said. She turned to him completely bewildered. “Steven is the father of the baby you are carrying, not me!”
The two people in the hallway were startled hearing the screeching wail. Normally this part of the hospital, mostly offices, didn’t deal with pain and patients. But it definitely sounded like some poor woman in complete and utter distress.
___________________________________________________________
“They all laughed at Christopher Columbus
“When he said the world was round
“They all laughed when Edison recorded sound
“They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother
“When they said that man could fly
“They told Marconi wireless was a phoney
“It's the same old try
“They laughed at me, wanting you
“Said I was reaching for the moon
“But oh, you came through
“Now they'll have to change their tune
“They all said we never would be happy
“Darling, let's take a bow
“But ho, ho, ho
“Who's got the last laugh now?”
Part 7: Who gets the last laugh now?
“Well,” said Mick, “I can empathize with the situation somewhat.”
They were at the ‘Irish Embassy’ after work. When Matt asked if they could talk, Mick had immediately sensed they would need beer.
“How so?” Matt asked. “Did your wife have a baby with another woman too?”
Mick chuckled. “No,” he replied, “I certainly can’t empathize with that part of what’s happened.” He shifted in his seat and had another sip of beer, “What I meant was that my wife and I were on opposite sides of the great ‘start a family’ divide. I wasn’t ready and I kept telling her so—or so I thought. One time we had a conversation and later she told me she was convinced that I had agreed it was time. Well, you know what happened. Yeah, I left the birth control stuff in her hands—tell me what guy doesn’t? We don’t have periods.” He shrugged. “But you know what? It’s good that it happened. Kids become a real focus to life and that wouldn’t have happened without that misunderstanding. I regret nothing and my kids make me damn proud. But you have your own feelings.”
Matt looked down into his beer. “I have no idea what to say to Mel and I could just imagine her face if I told her I wanted to leave Jules with a new baby.” He looked back at Mick, “Please don’t say anything to her.”
“It’s not my business and I have no idea what to tell her,” he replied. “What IS my business is that you’re honest with my good friend.”
“Of course. I guess I’m not buying that ticket to Vancouver,” mumbled Matt without enthusiasm. “Then again, maybe a little vacation will help with closure.”
+++
When Jules found out Matt was hanging at the ‘Irish Embassy’ after work, she persuaded the group from her office to go to ‘Hooch Hour’ at the ‘Prohibition Gastro Pub’. It was almost next door to the Adams’ condo. She’d let Matt know, and he swung by to pick her up on the way home. It didn’t take him long to find them and he hung back to watch for a bit. Julia was sitting on Steven’s lap, laughing at the top of her lungs. The handsome man was smiling back at her and when she turned to look at him, he pulled her into a smoldering kiss as the group around them cheered. They certainly were a good-looking couple, Matt’s penis twitched, but his gut started a mild ache.
That’s when Angie, Julia’s friend since school, sidled up beside him and shared the show.
“Never a dull moment in Adamsville,” said Jules’ friend, without turning. “So does it turn you on that she’s carrying his baby?”
Matt spun toward her, “What? Did she tell you that?”
Angie’s eyes smiled at him. “Relax, she told me it’s yours, but he’s been responsible for a rumour that it’s actually his. Who do you think is the dad?” When Matt didn’t answer, she turned back to the show and said, “I heard all about the weird science at Mount Sinai. I’m just teasing you—to me, you’ll always be her DIP.” Matt winced at ‘DIP’—it was Angie’s way to needle him as it meant Julia had Matt’s ‘Dick In her Purse’.
“How’s Yoyo Boy?” Matt shot back. It was his way of needling Angie by describing how she had a man on a string—she would throw Ron Howard away then jerk her finger and he’d come back.
At that her head whipped around and they glared at each other. Then their faces softened and both started to laugh.
“Opie’s good; he should be here shortly.” She turned back to Jules and Steven to see the two being cheered on as they continued their long kiss. One of Steven’s hands was behind Julia’s head to hold her into the kiss while the other was somewhere up Julia’s thigh underneath her skirt. Both of the woman’s hands were trying to limit the moves of the hand under the clothes. “Is this still a thing in Adamsville, watching her with him?”
Matt considered an answer before saying in all honesty, “Things have changed over time. Now, it no longer feels like a game—things have become too serious and life isn’t a fantasy.”
“I can see something’s changed,” the woman replied, “She’s not having as much fun as she used to. Look at her now. He’s holding her so she can’t escape and she’s trying to control his hands. Don’t tell her, or it will end a couple of friendships, but dick head made a pass at me. I wonder if he’s planning ahead for when his girlfriend’s too fat to be sexy.”
“Some men get really turned on by that.” He searched internally to see if he was one of them and felt a subtle stirring, “We should go. Jules gets tired easy these days and she won’t be drinking anyway.”
“Shall I get her for you to relieve any…um…awkwardness?”
“Thanks, Ang.”
“I get the feeling I’m rescuing her, anyway.”
With the subway construction, they couldn’t cross Eglinton so Matt and Julia walked to Yonge Street. “You didn’t look all that comfortable with your boyfriend,” said Matt. “Aren’t you two supposed to be out in the open?” He was referring to the fact that the people at work thought Matt and Julia were estranged and she’d taken up with Steven.
“He was being a shit,” she replied. “He’s so demanding now.” They got to the corner where Jules said, “I’ve already put in an order at Grazie. Why don’t you walk up and get it while I set the table?” Grazie had the best Italian takeout in the neighborhood and was just up Yonge Street, so Matt turned right while Julia turned left.
Just earlier, Steven Spears had also left Prohibition and turned toward Yonge Street. He was quite worked up after the public playing with Julia and wanted some relief. She was his anyway, so he walked briskly to catch her.
When Matt entered the condo with the food and made the turn in the hall away from the bedrooms he stopped. It was the unmistakable sound of loud kissing. Once at the end of the hall, he found Jules astride the lap and kissing the face of Steven Spears. One of the man’s hands was firmly on the woman’s hip while the other was behind her head. Matt’s erection had started involuntarily with the sound and now, was quite rampant. He hated how his body betrayed him, but he came to the realization that the sight did more to anger him than to turn him on.
“Don’t get up on my account,” he bitterly said to the couple.
His wife’s head turned to him and he was surprised by the unhappy look on her face. She held out her hand to him.
“Put the food on the island and come here…please?”
Not sure why, he complied.
Julia pulled him to the couch where he sat close beside the couple. She leaned over and proceeded to make slow love to her husband’s mouth, while she almost-unperceptively moved up and down. When it was clear that he was responding, she pulled back and slyly looked down. Matt’s eyes followed her gaze and she slid her loose skirt up inch-by-inch until he could see that she was impaled on the other man’s huge rod—otherwise the couple were fully clothed. Matt looked over to see Steven now sitting impassively with his head resting on the back of the furniture with eyes closed and a frown on his face. Both his hands were firmly on the woman’s hips and were responsible for the subtle movement. Matt looked back to Julia’s face and with a look of almost relief, she leaned forward to reengage her husband as she was moved up-and-down on her lover’s cock.
“You feel a bit dry, Jules,” said Steven.
She quickly wet some fingers and reached down to stimulate herself. It was also clear to the woman that her husband wasn’t feeling the love, so she put one hand behind his head so he couldn’t escape then started undoing his belt and opening his pants with the other. When she had access, she briefly stopped the kiss, wet some fingers again, reengaged the kiss and started playing with her husband’s penis. It took longer than she wanted, but soon both men were responding.
That’s when she slid off Steven and kneeling on the floor, took him into her mouth while still holding Matt’s dick. Steven sighed with the positive change in stimulus. Then Jules released Steven with a ‘pop’ and gobbled up her husband’s smaller manhood. When Matt closed his eyes, Julia stood up and pulled both confused men to their feet. She gave each a smoldering kiss with tongue and then slid to her knees. With a cock in each hand she pulled the reluctant men closer until she could lash back-and-forth with her tongue over both.
Looking up she grinned, “Wouldn’t it be hot to blow both of you at the same time?” She pulled the two organs together until she could put her mouth over both tips. But Steven was so thick that she could only get him in, or she could get all of Matt in with just the very tiny tip of Steven.
As Jules continued her ministrations the cocks touched and Steven whined, “Jules, this is so gay.” But she felt the betrayal in the man’s cock and she quickly concentrated on it. Matt knew the moment Steven came in Julia’s mouth as both participants signalled it. Then she looked up at Matt and opened her mouth showing the creamy contents.
Standing up, Julia tried to kiss Matt, who pulled back with clear revulsion on his face. Showing disappointment, she dropped back to her knees and looked up at both men to ensure they were looking down. Then, still holding both cocks, she looked down and the men watched a white stream of Steven’s discharge dribble from her mouth and onto Matt’s cock—who had no recourse but to let it happen.
Then she quickly looked up grinning and said, “Wouldn’t it be so incredibly hot for Steven to cum on you?” Ignoring the look on her husband’s face, she took his cock into her mouth to further spread the manly discharge over it. Then she sucked it to clean it off and tried and tried to get him to also come in her mouth.
With a sly grin, Steven announced that it was time he left. As Julia watched him go with a mixture of relief and disappointment it occurred to her that neither she nor her husband had an orgasm the entire time. After dinner, she successfully blew her husband then had him go down on her while she closed her eyes, played with her nipples and thought of Ada. It was so worth it.
+++
Alexandre put a paper cup down on the desk in front of the petite dark woman with the short hair. She looked up, smiled and in a ‘Trinbago’ accent said, “Decaf Americano…”
“With coconut milk,” finished the man with the GQ looks.
“You wouldn’t be looking for something….like a quick turnaround, would you?” she asked broadening her smile.
“Not at all! I’m cut to the quick. But, since you mention it, what is a typical turnaround?” He was asking for the turnaround of isolating (by centrifuge) DNA and then getting it sequenced (broken down to see its parts).
“It take’s half a day to get all the samples loaded up and spun,” she replied. “Then there’s the transfer to the sequencer plus a day to sequence. That’s the actual time it takes, but samples have to get in line. Will you be looking at the results yourself or do you need some analysis done?”
“I absolutely will look at the results myself. Is there much of a backlog?”
“We always have some slots in reserve for urgent studies, but yeah, it usually takes a week.”
“Even with a decaf Americano and coconut milk?” he winked.
“That would need an iced mocha at minimum,” she replied.
“And a jelly donut? You do know we have a world-famous baby on the way.”
“So I heard. A pack of Timbits would help—I’ll need to spread them around,” she winked back, indicating the popular bite-sized donuts.
Three days later Alexandre was stunned. He was comparing two samples that should have been identical. How could they be so different? What did he do wrong? It took time tracing his steps to conclude he had done nothing wrong. If that was the case, what did it mean? On a hunch, he went back, pulled two samples and had them isolated and sequenced. Four days later, he sat hunched over, wondering, “Bon dieu, qu'est ce qui s'est passé, putain? On fait quoi maintenant?” [Good God, what the fuck happened? What do we do now?]
+++
The man Matt and Mel knew as ‘Alan’ stepped into the meeting room and closed the door. Again, there was a screen at one end with the visage of a scowling man. Once ‘Alan’ was seated, the visage spoke.
“The trade succeeded,” it said.
When no one else spoke, ‘Alan’ said, “Yes, it was the final piece to start the new system working on its own. It is still not up to the performance of the Cooper-Hatch system, but it is still learning. Some of the things it does, we can’t explain directly from our programming as it has its own learned complexity. Covering the short sell was a self-generated action.”
“How long before the performance improves and it is better than the other system?”
“That’s not predictable. We will watch and tinker, but the majority of the improvements will now come internally—from within the system.”
“That is all from you.”
‘Alan’ got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, the voice said, “We no longer need him, ensure he will not divulge our secrets.” The screen abruptly went dark.
‘Alan’ walked unhurried, but straight, to his desk where he typed two words on the keyboard, hit ‘Enter’, typed one more word, hit ‘Enter’ and then he walked to the main door and slipped out of the office. Nothing on his desk was touched; it was as if he was still there.
++++
When he got home that day, Matt found Julia crashed out on the sofa. He walked over and sat on the other end. Automatically the woman put her feet onto her husband’s lap and wiggled them for a massage. He sighed, and complied.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
She didn’t open her eyes, “I am so tired, Baby.” He thought: you never look tired with Steven. Then she asked, “Did you see the gifts?”
“Two packages on the coffee table?”
“My Mother sent me ‘the christening gown’ from Dad’s side of the family,” she said with her voice heavy with resignation. “It’s made from my great-grandmother’s wedding dress.”
“I guess we’re supposed to be going to church,” Matt chuckled.
“They’ll drag us all the way out to Kingston for the christening,” she whined.
Matt reached over and opened the smaller and harder of the two packages, expecting it not to be the gown. Inside was a pink box labeled, “Bump Boxes 1st Trimester Pregnancy Gift Box”. It included “a set of month-marking belly stickers perfect for Instagram photos.”
“Who’s the other one from?” he asked, wondering who was interested in tracking the pregnancy.
“Don’t get mad,” she quickly said. “That’s from Steven’s mother.”
Matt warily asked, “Why should I get mad, Julia?”
She sat up and pulled her knees into her chest, hugging them. “She thinks the baby is Steven’s.”
“Why would she think that, Julia? Is it?” There was a sharpness in his voice.
“I told you not to get mad!” she wailed. “I had to tell him I was pregnant because of all of the extra ‘high-risk pregnancy’ appointments we have at Mount Sinai. He put two-and-two together and said it must be his. I’ve been trying to get him to stop.”
Warily her husband asked, “What two-and-two did he put together, Jules?”
She was quiet a moment. “He knew you and I were using condoms…”
“How the fuck would he know that?”
“He did. And he just assumed that since I wasn’t insisting that he use one…”
“Remember that joke your gynecologist told before you went back on the pill? You said for birth control we were using rhythm and condom, and she finished your sentence by saying, ‘and prayer!’” With a hard stare at his wife, he then evenly asked, “Did he slip one past the goalie while you waited for me to sign the papers, Julia? Is it really my baby?”
She burst into tears, sprang from the sofa and ran down the hall. “YES!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “I know I deserve this, but YES. IT’S. YOURS! YES! YES! YES!” The master bedroom door slammed.
Matt felt like an idiot and went to his wife. She was quietly crying on the bed. He sat beside her and gently turned her to him and into a hug.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that…” Unsure of how to finish that sentence, he said, “I watched you with him at ‘Prohibition’ and later as well, you continued to be so into him. You act like he is the man of your life, so naturally, it feels like the baby could be his, should be his—especially since things didn’t happen ‘naturally’.”
He was surprised when she asked, “What if it is his baby? Remember you wanted this.” That stabbed right into Matt. She continued, “You wanted me to have sex with others. Then it was you who wanted me to have feelings for someone. You got what you wanted and now I’m just supposed to deny my feelings and drop a man who has become part of my life.”
“How does Adrianna fit into this?”
Julia looked like she had been slapped. “That’s different—completely different. What we share is beyond anything two people can ever share.”
Matt considered for a moment then completely bewildered asked, “Then where do Steven and I fit?”
Now Julia considered for a moment. “I’m not lesbian, Ada knows this. We’re both on a scale and I’m…closer to one end of the scale and love men too. That’s why…” She looked like she didn’t know how to explain it. Gently clasping her husband’s hand she said, “You’re my husband. We promised to support each other for life. And I do love you so much. Steven is my lover…no, he's more than my lover, he’s my boyfriend—so strong, so smart, so gorgeous.”
Matt quietly thought about what she said before replying, “I know you’re not my cell phone, but this is real life and not some picture with a cute caption that you send me from a porn site. We are now responsible for another person, so shouldn’t we be considering what’s best for them?” He got up, walked to the window and looked out saying, “Is this the best place for a child to grow up?” He then dramatically closed the curtains and the small condo bedroom suddenly looked its size. “Do we want to be cramped, 11 floors up, pressed to find a park to play in? Is this a good way for a family to live? And shouldn’t we have a stable environment for a family? I’m not saying we can never have exciting games again, but shouldn’t we stop or at least pause things?”
“I want a house, Jules,” he continued. “And I don’t want to pretend I’m living in some fanciful polyandry utopia. I’m really sorry if this hurts you, but being the pretend father or even the stepfather for the child of a man like Steven was never my goal in life.”
“Matt, I get that—but you ARE the father. And can you get that being like my mother, stuck in the middle of nowhere with a life that was all children and housework was never MY goal in life? Didn’t we move here because we hated the burbs and that we wanted excitement?”
“Of course we did. But it doesn’t have to be either Dundas Square or Bum-fuck-nowhere –it’s not a choice between Yonge-and-Eglinton or someplace like Barrie or Scarberia.” Barrie was where Julia grew up and ‘Scarberia’ was the pejorative for Scarborough, the suburb where Matt grew up and as a bored teen had nothing to do and nowhere to go. “That’s what my bonus was all about—with it, we can move to the Beach or Riverdale or Leslieville: someplace with a real house but still in the city. We can go to the zoo; we can go the museum; we can go to the Science Center; we can go the Island; and getting back-and-forth to work won’t take all fucking day…” He trailed off into silence.
She was quiet for a while. Looking up at her husband, she said, “I did everything I was supposed to do to make this your baby, Matt.” Her eyes got moist. “And it really, really hurts with Steven. I hope you’re happy.”
++++
At work the next day, Matt got a text from Adrianna asking him if he was available at a specific time. He replied, suggesting a more convenient alternative and was surprised when, at the appointed time, he went out to reception looking for Adrianna…and met someone entirely different.
++++
When Matt got home, Julia was again on the couch with a cloth over her eyes. He asked, “Do you want him to come over?” He saw her visibly brighten under the cloth, but not nearly as much as he anticipated. He continued, “If you had to cut a puppy’s tail off, you wouldn’t do it a bit at a time—you’d do it all at once. But it’s up to you.”
She almost whispered, “Yes, I’d like to have him over.”
“He uses a condom.”
She shot to a sitting position, “Why? It doesn’t matter anymore!”
“It does to me. I’m serious; afterwards, you’ll have to show it to me.”
“But, you’ll be there…” and she reached over to touch him, to show him.
“No, Jules. This is just the two of you, in the guest room. You WILL show me the evidence afterwards. I’m not going to get turned into his bitch; not by you, not by anyone.”
Later that evening, naked and looking disappointed, Julia brought something from the guestroom to Matt. She hadn’t noticed how he’d quickly put his dick away and tossed a towel behind the couch. Straddling her husband she lifted the drooping rubber up to his face and tried to pour its contents on his mouth. With a flash of anger, he grabbed the condom, threw his wife off his lap and walked to the kitchen where he grabbed some paper towels.
Surprised and disappointed, Julia got up and ran back to the bedroom.
In the quiet of the early morning, Julia curled up with Matt in their bed. She tried all the tricks she could think of and eventually, she got her husband going—determined, she was going to get him to either eat her out or fuck her in anger the way he had that one night. She had not cum at all with her boyfriend and, desperately needing release, she finally got it from an angry, thrusting Matt.
++++
It was a quiet week following that. Matt was working late again and the single time Jules, guiltily, went to Steven’s apartment, she ended up going to see Ada afterwards for some tender affection and release. The two women were together most other evenings that week with Ada always bringing Jules home to the condo. Matt never touched Julia.
Then all hell broke loose Friday. Normand’s office called Julia late Thursday and insisted on an appointment the following afternoon. She was confused, as they had so far made all the scheduled meetings. Then Matt texted her, to make sure she would meet him at Mount Sinai.
She would later remember it as a perfect day in Toronto, as it was warm, but the energy-sapping humidity had been washed out of the air the previous evening. Julia wasn’t late, but Matt was already in the waiting area when she arrived and they were immediately ushered into the office. Normand and Alexandre were waiting.
Normand was pawing through a folder on the desk and seemed to be having difficulty looking at the Adams.
“I…ah…we…ah…asked for this meeting to let you know of some…ah…irregularities with your…ah…pregnancy,” he stammered. “We’ve been trying to pinpoint the cause, but it…ah…” Finding it too difficult, he looked at Alexandre and basically gave up.
With a glance at Normand and an annoyed sigh, the GQ-model-like scientist stepped forward. “I sampled the DNA off of the foetus for our studies. Basically, I wanted to ensure there were no abnormalities but I discovered a mismatch between what I thought was the intended sample and the foetus.”
“How is my baby?” Julia demanded, interrupting.
“He appears perfectly healthy,” interjected Normand, gesturing with his hands as if to settle the woman.
“He?” she immediately asked.
Alexandre shot Normand a look that could kill. “Our apologies,” he said. “We should have asked if you wanted to know the sex, but it was the Y chromosome, one specifically of origin from the father, that alerted me to the…mismatch. To ensure everything was as it should be, I compared it to a sample from the…material you supplied.”
“What was that, Jules?” Matt quietly asked.
She looked down and said, “I kept the condoms we used and gave them to Alexandre.”
“I read up, and there are special deep freeze containers for sperm samples,” said Matt.
“That’s part of our technique,” said Normand, clearly more comfortable to brag about his work. “Since Alexandre isolates and packages the DNA for insertion, we don’t need to store the sperm as normal. We have a simple container that can be kept in the fridge.”
“So,” continued Alexandre, “I used some material from one prophylactic to create the original package for insemination. Later, I did a comparison of the foetal DNA against one of the other prophylactics supplied.”
Matt looked at Jules and asked, “How many did you supply?”
She thought a moment then sounding uncertain said, “Four?”
“Five,” said Alexandre. “I randomly chose the one with the greatest contents. The foetal Y chromosome was not the same as the random, second sample. So I had to confirm my results and the foetal Y did in fact match the condom from which I made the package.” He paused to prepare the next sentence, “But the prophylactic I used is from a different man than the one who provided the other 4. I then made sure the complete DNA was a match for the same sample; fortunately it was, so everything otherwise is normal. Following that, I contacted Ada, then Mr. Adams to identify the possible origin of that sample. Mr. Adams then rather unconventionally supplied a match.”
“I’m confused,” said Julia. “What are you saying?
“Julia,” Matt said. She turned to him completely bewildered. “Steven is the father of the baby you are carrying, not me!”
The two people in the hallway were startled hearing the screeching wail. Normally this part of the hospital, mostly offices, didn’t deal with pain and patients. But it definitely sounded like some poor woman in complete and utter distress.
___________________________________________________________
“They all laughed at Christopher Columbus
“When he said the world was round
“They all laughed when Edison recorded sound
“They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother
“When they said that man could fly
“They told Marconi wireless was a phoney
“It's the same old try
“They laughed at me, wanting you
“Said I was reaching for the moon
“But oh, you came through
“Now they'll have to change their tune
“They all said we never would be happy
“Darling, let's take a bow
“But ho, ho, ho
“Who's got the last laugh now?”
Last edited by FreshStart on Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
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RugbyRaizo1991
- Player
- Posts: 367
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:49 am
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
I've been reading never commented before but figured why the hell not.. first off Fresh you are a good ass writer. You definitely tell a good story and bring it together well in moving it along so far.......
Now I won't say I saw it coming that would be a lie, but I will say I'm not surprised given how things happen to Cucks in most stories, plus in most stories it would be more of a shock if the man not the husband was the fathr and thus the actual husband is forever reminded of his well choices or cuckness if I can use that word.. in this Matt is the guy this has landed on. I can imagine him being quite bothered by this no question.. Steven excited of course, but as I've learned in many of these stories.. Cucks don't catch breaks so It's why Im not surprised, and honestly bad as I wanna feel for Matt.... I don't. But I do look forward to seeing how he goes about this, I know Jules would never do an abortion but after deception like this and no less from the doctors office and an experimental treatment well........ I wanna see how everyone reacts.. Matt and Jules especially after all that you are the father of this baby, you are you are!!! and he is NOT, course she could try and but you are the father you are one of her fathers but end of the day... Not your seed bruh... your wife is pregnant by another man that sticks with you and you can't mak that go away.. funny how a fantasy no matter how much of a fantasy it is to remain.. always leaves permanent stains in reality, but I wanna see what Matt Does........
That said Fresh Helluva job man,
Now I won't say I saw it coming that would be a lie, but I will say I'm not surprised given how things happen to Cucks in most stories, plus in most stories it would be more of a shock if the man not the husband was the fathr and thus the actual husband is forever reminded of his well choices or cuckness if I can use that word.. in this Matt is the guy this has landed on. I can imagine him being quite bothered by this no question.. Steven excited of course, but as I've learned in many of these stories.. Cucks don't catch breaks so It's why Im not surprised, and honestly bad as I wanna feel for Matt.... I don't. But I do look forward to seeing how he goes about this, I know Jules would never do an abortion but after deception like this and no less from the doctors office and an experimental treatment well........ I wanna see how everyone reacts.. Matt and Jules especially after all that you are the father of this baby, you are you are!!! and he is NOT, course she could try and but you are the father you are one of her fathers but end of the day... Not your seed bruh... your wife is pregnant by another man that sticks with you and you can't mak that go away.. funny how a fantasy no matter how much of a fantasy it is to remain.. always leaves permanent stains in reality, but I wanna see what Matt Does........
That said Fresh Helluva job man,
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Suchen Zucker
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Hehe, yeah I figured this was coming. Steven grinning closing the door on the fridge. Matt has been handed a lockpick to free himself from bondage. What will he do? A bigger question is what will Jules do if she comes home and finds the cage empty and her pet missing.
It's great to have an additional compelling story to look forward to. Thanks, FreshStart
It's great to have an additional compelling story to look forward to. Thanks, FreshStart
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rh17
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
I'm offended...the Opester has more self-esteem than to just be a "Yo-yo" boy to a hot woman like Angie...OK I'm lying, he totally wouldn't. He would grab on with both hands and never let her go...
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
While I knew there was a chance it was Steven’s baby, I was definitely blindsided by Steven’s criminal act. How did Jules miss the 5th condom?
I feel for Matt on this one. It appears Jules had positive intentions to make him the father. Though, on the other hand, it was Jules choice to invite Steven into their home.
Things might have been different if Jules hadn’t mentioned her pregnancy to Steven. Now he’s already claiming the baby is his, and Matt is faced with a life with Steven in his face.
If Matt stays with Jules, Steven, and the baby, he will hate his life.
Great job FreshStart!
I feel for Matt on this one. It appears Jules had positive intentions to make him the father. Though, on the other hand, it was Jules choice to invite Steven into their home.
Things might have been different if Jules hadn’t mentioned her pregnancy to Steven. Now he’s already claiming the baby is his, and Matt is faced with a life with Steven in his face.
If Matt stays with Jules, Steven, and the baby, he will hate his life.
Great job FreshStart!
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FreshStart
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
[Freshnote: I know I'm not in X's league, but I do get some of the same eyeballs and try to get 'between the layers' of his posts. However, he's got a big discussion going and I've been sitting on this for a bit. Here it goes. Thanks for reading! Make sure you hang in for the punchline after the credits…or skip over the credits, if the in-jokes get a bit much.]
FINALE: More than just holding hands OR Revenge is a dish…named Christine
The three other occupants of Normand Charlès' office were quiet a moment trying to let Julia recover.
Matt asked her quietly, “How did Steven’s sperm get to Alexandre, Julia?”
Julia looked wildly around the office, as if she was unable to comprehend what was going on.
“Julia, you had the sample-holder in the fridge,” said Alexandre. “How did a prophylactic from Steven get into it?”
“In the fridge?” asked Matt. “I thought it was supposed to be in some super-cold container—that sperm samples had to be super-frozen.”
“We don’t use sperm as sperm,” the other man replied. “As I’ve explained, we just need to isolate a DNA sample. Our method is a lot easier for couples to store the material before use.”
“Oh my god!” exclaimed Julia suddenly understanding. One hand went to her mouth while the other grabbed Matt’s arm as she said, “I’m so sorry, Baby. Steven found the container in the fridge and…” Her eyes looked down, “I explained, I was going to use it with you for something…”
“You’re sure you didn’t explain what it was really for?” asked Normand. Julia emphatically shook her head, no.
“There was one prophylactic in the container of a different sort,” said Alexandre. “It had much more in it, so I used that one as it naturally would be easier to ensure I had a good sample.”
“No, no, no,” said Julia to herself. “He must have added that to the container himself in order to get back at…” She looked at Matt and her eyes welled up. “Oh, Baby. I am sooo sorry.” Matt’s face went red and she cried, “I swear I didn’t tell him about our treatments!”
Normand cleared his throat, “First, we need to get an official sample from this man. What we have was obtained in a rather unorthodox method and doesn’t have a clear, shall we say, provenance.” He glanced sideways at his partner. “But Alexandre is fully confident that this man is the father. Once that is confirmed, at this point, we are under 20 weeks of gestation, so if you wish to terminate because it is unwanted…”
“NO!” yelled Julia. “I can’t! I just can’t—it’s not the baby’s fault!” She clutched Matt as tears formed in her eyes as she pleaded, “Mathew! Please tell them! We can’t…”
“Sh,” said Matt holding his wife, trying to calm her down. “I don’t think that we need to consider that as an option,” he said to the two men. “Julia couldn’t do that—she will take the baby to term.” If it's possible, Normand looked grateful, yet conflicted.
Alexandre then spoke up. “We have already had enough ethical issues with this situation,” he said. “I must insist that the biological father be officially identified, contacted and informed.”
“No!” said Julia. “Can’t we just pretend…”
“I am afraid not,” interrupted Normand. “Alexandre is correct. In fact, I must insist that we have a conference, here, together with this man, in order to be able to report back with clear conscience to the ethics committee.”
Alexandre nodded and continued, “This man may wish to be part of the child’s life. Or, if you decide to put it up for adoption, he may wish to have custody.”
“No!” Julia screeched.
Alexandre continued, “The child also has a right to know who his biological father is. There are medical and psychological benefits to a child from that knowledge. While it may open up a potential mess, when someone brings a child into the world, one has to do the right thing.”
“On a positive note,” he looked straight at Matt and continued, “I know someone who became pregnant from someone other than her partner. She and the partner worked through it and he became the child’s father in all practical ways.”
Julia slumped in defeat. Then she looked up at Matt with streaming eyes, “Baby, you must know this isn’t what I wanted! It isn’t. It isn’t. It’s Steven’s fault.”
“Is this like a case of rape?” asked Matt to no one in particular. “There was no consent and…”
“Mon Dieu!” yelled Normand. “True, there is lack of consent, but from what we understand, there is no intentionality. I very much doubt…”
“What about rape by deception or by fraud?” asked Matt.
“Oh, God,” wailed Julia, “Baby, no! This is so hard as it is. We can’t do that!”
+++
A few nights later, while Julia was showering, Matt was reading on line:
“The law stipulates that both parents are financially responsible for a child. This applies regardless of whether the parents are married, live together, or are separated, divorced, or otherwise do not have an ongoing relationship.
“Generally, the court will give that individual a chance to obtain a DNA or blood test. If they refuse to be tested, the court may assume that they are the biological father, particularly if there is no evidence provided establishing that they are not.
“However, individuals involved in paternity disputes should be aware that the court will review all evidence, not just DNA testing, and based on the totality of that evidence, will make an ultimate declaration about the child’s father.
“Section 31 of the Family Law Act expressly recognizes a legal obligation to support children that may not be biologically related to a “parent”. Under the Act, a person has an obligation to provide support for his or her child, regardless of whether the child is a biological child, an adopted child, or a child to which the person has demonstrated a “settled intention” to treat as a member of their family.
“Under s. 8 of the Children’s Law Reform Act, factors that establish a presumption of paternity are:
"• The person is married to the mother of the child at the time the child was born;
(Matt skipped down)
"• The person was living with the mother of the child “in a relationship of some permanence” at the time of the birth of the child or the child was born within 300 days after they stopped living together;
“Where there is a paternity dispute, the best course of action would be to consult with a family lawyer and to obtain a paternity test….”
Matt shook his head and thought, “Why am I even reading this? I’m not living in a ‘Burn The Bitch’ story.” Then he stopped. But what if Steven wants to be recognized as the baby’s biological father? What recourse would Matt have? What kind of life would the baby have being surrounded by parents like Julia and Steven?
As Julia entered the room, Matt closed down the page on his tablet. She dropped beside him, leaned her head on his shoulder and began to cry. “This isn’t the happy ending I planned,” she sobbed. “It’s all my fault!”
“Sh. We’ve been through this. It’s nothing you did.”
“Yes it is. You said so. First, you said I must have done it deliberately...”
“Jules, I was angry, that was…”
“Then you said, if I hadn’t gone and done it behind your back this couldn’t…”
“Sh. Sh. You didn’t do this, he did. What’s done is done, and you have to concentrate on having a healthy baby. You need to stop this—for the sake of the baby.” He was searching for ways to cheer her up and deflect her. “Has Adrianna been thinking of names for her baby?”
Immediately, he cursed himself—he was trying to distract his wife but he could see where this might go.
Jules face broke into a luminous, beatific smile and she said, “Valery Julianna Charlès. Do you know that Valery was the name of Ada’s fiancé?”
“No idea.”
“She’ll call Ada, ‘Maman’ and she’ll call me, ‘Mommy’.” She was quiet for a moment. “What about the name of our baby?” That was exactly what Matt had dreaded.
“Jules, I don’t think that’s my call.”
“Why not? He’s our baby. I was thinking of Paul Matthew Adams. What do you think?”
Matt winced. “Again, how can I make such an important decision for another man’s child?” Paul was Matt’s father.
“He’s YOUR child!” Clearly irritated she said, “I don’t want to call him Christopher.” He was Julia’s estranged father.
“Can’t he have two names that are completely his own?” He was holding back, as he could just imagine the fireworks if he said, ‘Steven’.
Matt could feel his shirt beneath Julia’s cheek getting wet.
+++
Over the following days, Jules’ suggestive messages to Matt returned and with a wry expression, he noticed a definite pattern.
One showed a naked woman, with hand on her belly, looking at the camera with the caption, “Sweetie, if he gives me a baby bump, do you promise to jack off on it every day? I’ve heard that it helps with stretch marks.”
Another picture showed a very pregnant woman in profile with the caption, “It’s not yours and you’re okay with that. In fact, you’re more than ok, you love it.”
A similar one had, “Baby, I know pregnancy was never part of your cuckold fantasies. I am so very proud of you for choosing to raise this other man’s child as if it were your own.”
Yet another had a GIF of a couple obviously having sex. It said, “My husband knows that I am pregnant by another man. I feel so incredibly sexy making love to him, knowing that he knows and he is not only fine with it, but he is totally turned on.”
The last caption Matt read said, “Raising another man’s child with love, the cuck dad does as well or better than the biological dad.”
Seething, Matt erased everything and after that, he erased anything that had a picture, without reading it.
Soon, a new pattern in the Adams’ house began: Matt was home less-and-less and Jules was out more-and-more. Adrianna insisted Jules always go home, but once a week, Steven was at the condo when Matt finally arrived home, late from work. With a smirk, Steven always left after a short stay.
One day, Matt got a call and made it home after a normal day’s work. As soon as the door was open he could look down the hall into the master bedroom. The window blinds were partly closed and with the descending sun, there were golden bars of light filling the room. He was surprised, as Adrianna weakly smiled at him from the bed, sitting up, with Julia lying against her, with her head on Ada's chest. Julia’s eyes were closed as the other woman gently stoked the short blond hair. Both women were in street clothes, in fact Julia looked like she was still dressed for work.
The French woman leaned slightly and said quietly, “Hoolia, Mathew is here.”
Julia with obvious effort opened her eyes briefly, sighed and closed them again. Shifting in order to gently get out from under the other woman, Adrianna kissed the blond head and said, “Remember, I’m going to have your baby. Can you feel where you are growing inside me?” There was another kiss. “I’ll be going now, since you’re in good hands.” With her human cushion pulling out from under her, Julia slid down onto the bed, without otherwise moving.
Adrianna walked to the door and without a sound beckoned Matt to follow out into the hall, quietly pulling the door closed behind them.
“Her nausea is very bad but I’m hoping she gets over it. She called me so you wouldn’t have to leave work.” Matt nodded understanding. “But I knew you would want to know.”
She looked at Matt and then she surprised him by pulling him into her for a hug. “This isn’t what was supposed to happen,” she said over Matt’s shoulder. “This was supposed to be YOUR baby. The Steven sickness was going away. We have to fight for her now. I hate my brother for insisting that horrible man know the truth.” An idea came to her, but she would deal with that later. Pulling back slightly, she looked into Matt’s eyes. “There’s something else: I’m going back to France to have my baby, it will keep my family happy. I have to go soon or I won’t be able to fly.” She paused, waiting for Matt. He understood.
“She’s going to France with you,” he said. The woman nodded. She again looked at him expectantly.
“By the time you’ve had your baby, it will be too late for her to fly back, so her baby will also be born in France,” he said. “I doubt she would have wanted to leave you and the baby anyway.” The woman gave a half-hearted smile and nodded, then she frowned and squeezed Matt’s upper arms.
“You didn’t deserve any of this,” she said. “You are such a good man. Come to France with us.”
“I’ll lose my job if I leave for that long and we can’t afford that.”
“My father can find you a position. It will be a good job.”
“Are you coming back?”
“Oui, I will be back with my baby. My future will be my own and it will be here.” She could see the question in Matt’s face. “No, Hoolia and I will not make a home together. Her path is with a man.” She squeezed Matt’s arms. “A good man. And I must make a life with a partner of my own. Hoolia and I have a very special bond, but we are not meant to live together as wife and wife.” She looked deeply into his eyes. “Every baby needs to have good role models, so I hope I can count on you to be one for my baby.”
He ignored the question. “Please understand that I truly appreciate the offer but I have to make my own way. Here. Just like you. I’m sure you understand.”
She nodded, then pulled him into her again and put her arms around him. “You will come later for the birth?”
A dagger went through her heart when he hesitated before mumbling, “Sure….of course...”
She pulled back again and aided by her height, she looked slightly down and kissed his brow. “A bientot.” Then she left him standing there.
Matt cracked open the bedroom door and peered in, Julia hadn’t moved. After making herbal tea for his wife, he took it to her and slid onto the bed, into the space under Julia that had been vacated by Adrianna.
Julia clutched him as if her life depended on it and she started to quietly cry. “This shouldn’t have happened.” With red, wet eyes, she looked up at Matt. “I am so, so sorry.” She began to sob. His wife wiped her nose with the sleeve of his shirt. “Did Ada tell you that we’re going to France?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do? I need you there with me.”
He sighed and was quiet for a while. “I can’t come to France to stay…for long—I just can’t take that much time off work and I can’t function in French and we can’t live off the Charlès. It just wouldn’t be right.”
Jules lifted herself up to look at him. “Her baby’s half mine, so yes we can. Please, you have to be there. They offered…”
“YOU can live off the Charlès,” he emphasized. “I have nothing to do with Adrianna’s baby.” He silently said to himself, and nothing to do with yours either. “You’ll be in good hands. When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know yet,” she replied. “I suppose I’ll come back when Ada comes back as her pregnancy is ahead of mine.”
“She says you won’t be living together.”
“We will in France, but not when we return,” she looked at him. “When I come back, I’m going to be living with my husband and my son…and…” She looked down.
“Your sperm donor?” said Matt bitterly, immediately regretting it.
He saw the tears start again and although he felt for Julia, he had no idea what to say, so he hugged her.
++++
In the big meeting room in the office where ‘Alan’ had worked, the visage scowled from the screen.
“Where is he?” boomed the visage.
Everyone in the room shuffled uncomfortably. No one spoke.
“If I have to ask again, everyone in that room will suffer the consequences.”
There was a low murmur and eventually one voice spoke up, “We have no idea.”
“What do you know?”
Again, there was a low murmur and eventually the same voice said, “Just before he left, he typed in the command ‘run sum’—as in addition. Then he typed the command ‘transfer’. Ever since then, the performance of the system has been slowly deteriorating and our technical people cannot explain it. AME is now making 10 dollars for every dollar we are making. As well, 5 million US dollars have disappeared from our books. We traced it with every resource we have and lost the trail when it ambiguously branched to either Nigeria or Switzerland.”
“You will find him,” boomed the visage, “and you will fix the system and you will recover that money, or each and every one of you in that room will suffer the fate that was meant for him.” The screen instantly went black.
++++
Sometime later, Julia was finishing her packing and had opened her top draw to see if there was anything she’d forgotten. She spotted the piece of paper under everything and stopped. Pulling the sheet out, she unfolded it, read it again and her eyes grew moist. She remembered it vividly, it was something she’d copied down so long ago and so much had happened since.
Matt heard something and poked his head into the bedroom. “Jewels? You okay?”
With her back to her husband, Jen straightened up and the tears immediately stopped. “Yes. I’m fine.” But before Matt withdrew, Julia suddenly ripped the page. It was a savage act, full of violence and silent fury. In an instant, it was over. She then carelessly threw the remains of the page at the waste basket in the corner. “I’m fine,” she repeated then turned and pushed past Matt out of the room.
The husband, puzzled, glanced over at the waste basket and then followed his wife.
They took a limo to the airport. There was no talk as Jules looked out the window, clutching hard to Matt’s hand the entire distance. Matt passed the time privately thumbing his phone, one earpiece in place. One song deeply stabbed him as he sat there listening and looking out as the ugly highway rolled past:
“I don't like the way he's looking at you
“I'm starting to think you want him too
“Am I crazy? Have I lost ya?
“Even though I know you love me, can't help it
“I turn my chin music up
“And I'm puffing my chest
“I'm getting red in the face
“You can call me obsessed
“It's not your fault that they hover
“I mean no disrespect
“It's my right to be hellish
”I still get jealous
“'Cause you're too sexy, beautiful
“And everybody wants a taste
“That's why (that's why)
“I still get jealous”
Once at the airport, Matt escorted Julia into the departures area to find Adrianna already there in a wheel chair, with Normand Jr. standing behind her. As they made small talk, Steven showed up with an older woman in tow. Rather, she was towing Steven.
“Oh no,” said Jules with ill-concealed dismay. “It’s Steven’s Mother!”
“Oh Julia!” cried the woman. “This is so exciting. You look lovely! Steven will tell you that I’m ready to come to France at the drop of a hat. I just can’t wait to see…” She paused. “I just can’t wait to help! Here! It’s something I think you should have.” She gave Jules a wrapped, flat box.
The remainder of the short wait was taken up with a strained politeness for everyone except the enthusiastic old woman and Steven, who just stood and smirked.
Eventually, it was time to go. As Mrs. Spears kept on with her chattering to Adrianna and Normand, she didn’t notice Julia’s perfunctory peck on Steven’s cheek, or the way she clutched tightly to Matt until Adrianna touched her elbow.
After the stress of moving through the airport, saying a tearful goodbye to Matt, taking leave of Steven and his Mother, interminable waiting, then boarding, Julia sat beside Ada in the airplane. She pulled the gift out of her carry-on thinking, “Thank God it hadn’t set security off”. She carefully unwrapped it as Ada distractedly fiddled with the screen in front of her.
“Oh,” exclaimed Julia. She nudged Ada and showed her the small, framed picture. “It’s Steven when he was little.”
Ada, with a bemused look, said, “My, my, he was good looking even back then. How ironic that he’s sitting on a pony—so young and already one horse’s ass sitting on another. At least you’ll have a beautiful baby.” Then she rubbed her own belly. “But not as beautiful as this one.”
Hoolia smiled and thought to herself, maybe this isn’t so bad. She certainly would have a ‘sexy son’ and he would have a Good Father—who just wouldn’t be his biological father. She smiled, leaned her head on her companion’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
++++
Weeks later, Jesse Patterson and ‘Old man’ Jacobs walked together out of Jacob’s office. They had completed the paper work for the Pension Plan to invest in the pool for AME.
“I actually wanted him to join us but you can see him over here,” said Jacobs as he led the other man to the desk of Michaelis Thanis. “Oh, I wonder where he is?” said Jacobs at the empty desk.
“It’s called ‘management by wandering around’,” chuckled the other man. “He didn’t invent it, but he pretty much perfected it.” As Jacobs turned to lead Jesse out of the office, without anyone seeing, Jesse pulled an envelope out of his portfolio and dropped it onto Mick’s empty chair.
++++
Later that day, Mathew Adams was back at the airport but this time, he was sitting in the departures lounge, playing with his phone. While cleaning out old messages he found one from Julia: “Falling in love is easy, but staying in love is very special.”
Matt noted that it was very unfortunate that right afterwards he found another message from her. It was of a naked couple with the man’s head between the woman’s legs. It had the caption: “I want you to know that I love you so much, but I love him too. He is like some big, strong, wild animal who mount's me at will. But you're like my cute little kitty who can lick me when he's finished.”
Both items were immediately erased.
Matt then looked at something he’d been musing over. It was another post from the music program ‘Ultra Latino’ which read, “If you don't build your dreams, someone will hire you to build theirs.” That made him remember the conversation with Mel.
Then he played a song by Postmodern Jukebox, which Mick had sent him:
“You have so many relationships in this life
“Only one or two will last
“You go through all the pain and strife
“Then you turn your back and they're gone so fast
…
“So hold on the ones who really care
“In the end they'll be the only ones there
“And when you get old and start losing your hair
“Can you tell me who will still care
“Can you tell me who will still care?
…
“Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose
“You can plant any one of those
“Keep planting to find out which one grows
“It's a secret no one knows
“It's a secret no one knows
…
“Can you tell me? oh
“No you can't 'cause you don't know
“Can you tell me? oh yeah
“You say you can but you don't know
“Can you tell me? oh (Which flower's going to grow?)
“No you can't 'cause you don't know
“Can you tell me? (If it's going to be a daisy or a rose?)
“You say you can but you don't know
“Can you tell me? oh (Which flower's going to grow?)
“No you can't 'cause you don't know
“Can you tell me?
“You say you can but you don't know”
He was still for a while absorbing the song. Then he reread a different message from Mick, to which Matt had returned a number of times during the past weeks. It read:
“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of the things not meant for you. – Variation on a Fake Buddha Quote from Jack Kornfield’s Buddha’s Little Instruction Book.”
Matt looked up and scanned the big board—it would be another 15 minutes before he started boarding his flight. With a deep breath, he looked back to his phone, brought up another screen, paused as if making a final decision, then hit ‘send.’
++++
While Matt sat in the airport, Mick stared at Mel’s face on his screen, blinking and trying to think of the ramifications of what the woman had just said.
“So, you’re saying that the typo wasn’t the problem with the DHI trade?” Mel nodded. Mick continued, “But you’re saying that using the news feed, HERMES anticipated the tariffs against Dominion Heavy Industries?”
“That’s right. Over time, the feed had other tariffs and AME sold DHI short because it saw the correlation between the tariffs and the stocks going down. It just thought that DHI was the only stock worth shorting at the time, based on liquidity.”
Mick closed his eyes and shook his head. “Wait.” He started ticking off on his fingers in front of the screen as he talked. “One, HERMES has to understand what tariffs do to stocks. Two, it has to understand which countries need to apply the tariff in order to do the damage. Three, it had to make the connection between the tariffs applied and the specific company—in other words it had to know the actual business DHI was in. And four, it had be able to see that the tariffs were coming WEEKS before they were applied, which is something NO ONE ELSE PICKED UP ON?”
“Yeah, that pretty much covers it, but you’re making it sound implausible.”
“Ya think maybe I’m making it sound implausible…because it fucking IS implausible? Nope. Not buying. What the fuck are you smoking out there on the left coast? Oh no, don’t tell me: you’ve been into Granny’s meds. Somebody needs to come and babysit YOU.” He paused before finishing, “Well, goodnight. I have to make another phone call regarding some…ah…special work to try and re-balance the world. Then I’m going to go and shave with Occam’s razor and then I’m going to send you a link so you can watch the movie, Colossus: The Forbin Project. You’ll notice that it’s clearly labelled ‘science fiction’.”
Mel’s face broke into her dazzling smile. “I’m sure it is. But this isn’t. And by the condition of your face, you’re been shaving with that brand of razor for a while.” Then she started giggling.
++++
On the other side of an ocean, Julia Adams was in a state of quiet euphoria. She looked across the bed at the beautiful face of the woman she loved—the mother of Julia’s baby. She was sleeping. The calm serenity of the face had an almost Buddha-like quality. Julia looked down at the baby between them and smiled. She’d counted the perfect little fingers and toes so many times while lying there, admiring this other special, innocent, and perfect, little miracle angel.
Then she heard her phone buzz on the nightstand behind her.
With deliberate care and considerable effort, she slid her swollen body off the bed and maneuvered her legs and hips under the weight of the other baby within her. She shuffled slightly to pick up her phone, arching her back and placing a hand on it for support. A message from Matt! She opened it and frowned. It was a picture that looked like a crude jig saw puzzle but the picture wasn’t very good and the image was overly shiny.
Then she understood. It was a piece of paper that had been clumsily ripped up, and then put back together with a crude layer of adhesive tape. She read the familiar writing on the page, a tear rolled down her cheek and she quietly began to sob. It was something she’d copied some time ago, and so much had happened since. It read:
“There’s a big difference between:
"Who we love,
"who we settle for
"and who we’re meant for.”
++++
Some days later, Matt sat on a blanket on the ground. Looking at the clear sky, he realized just how relaxed he felt. He did an inward check and…his stomach was…fine. There was no churning, no discomfort, in fact, no evidence of stress at all. How long had it been since he felt that? Or didn’t feel that? Glancing away, he spotted a small rabbit exploring the edge of the clearing.
Just then, a plastic glass suddenly appeared in front of his face, filled with a golden liquid, busy with tiny bubbles. Matt accepted the sparkling wine and turned to Mellissa Rougier, the almost complete-opposite of his wife with bee-sting lips, glowing, chestnut-colored hair and a tall body flowing with curves. He couldn’t look away from the beautiful face that hid behind the thick-rimmed glasses. She was brilliant and they had so much in common.
“Mick said not to worry about the baby,” said the woman. Matt’s face cracked into a smile of anticipation before she continued.
“He said that people say Jesus had two fathers, and he didn’t turn out too bad.” Matt’s lips pursed as Mel continued, “He also figures he knows what the next step should be.”
“I’m not sure I really want to know.”
The woman pushed her glasses up with her free hand then she put the hand down onto the blanket to support herself. “He says that you should be the one having the next baby. It shouldn’t be too hard for Normand to figure it out. But, Mick says Normand is going to have to come up with a whole new set of pre-natal exercises for you, since the act of giving birth is going to be like passing a football down your dick.”
Matt shook his head, then slyly slid his free hand across the blanket and covered Mel’s resting hand. “You know, I’d have no problem doing that.” He paused. “I’d have no problem at all, as long as you’re the father.”
Mel pulled her hand back, fished into a plastic container and pulled out a baby carrot. The container rested on a clear envelope containing a copy of CHUM Chart #1 from 1957. The woman lifted the carrot to her mouth, and then with a flourish, loudly snapped the end off with her teeth.
“I’m not sure about that. Isn’t there still a MRS. Adams somewhere, expecting her second child? Let’s also think about the last crop of fathers: one is a blond scheming bitch who has no dick and the other…well, the other is nothing BUT a dick. No, I don’t think fatherhood is my thing.”
She pointedly stared into Matt’s eyes and arched an eyebrow before continuing, “However, Mick also said he figures it’s about time for someone else to ‘grow up, grow a pair, man-up, get into the game’ and all of that—how did he put it—‘real manly stuff’.” Then her face softened and brightened into That Smile.
Matt was momentarily mesmerized, but something occurred to him and with a frown he managed to ask, “Does Mick really have a shotgun?”
“Oh dear. What gave you that idea?”
_________________________________________
[spoken]
“That’s right! If you come down to Kitsilano and go down to Jericho Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,
“If you follow the west path you’ll find a whole group of little bunnies that love to eat things
“Yes, you see there’s many of them and they’re all hungry
“So pack a lunch and be prepared to share
“And if you don’t see any bunnies while you’re visiting us
“They’ll give you all your money back. Ha ha ha ha!
--
[sung]
“The wild bunnies of Kitsilano
“Are very happy but kind of broke
“So that offer to return your money
“Was just a funny bunny kind of joke”
--
“The wild bunnies of Kitsilano
“Love to skip and hop and skip some more
“And if we all follow their example
“Surely we could put an end to war”
--
“The wild bunnies of Kitsilano
“And the duckies and the dogs
“And the children are in the palm fronds
“And the sea [pause]…
“and the sand [pause]…
“and the…
”Logggggggggggggggggs!”
[Head shot of Bernini] “Whoof!”
===
[Background music: Wendy Carlos, who was originally born Walter Carlos, playing Scarlatti "Sonata In G Major" on Moog synthesizer]
[Outtake, Mick facing the camera in a restaurant] “So, I didn’t tell you that in my spare time I write porn. It’s true. I write under the name of Mike Crosse Jambe-Amourex. The last name, of course, translates to Cross-leg-lov…”
[Interrupted by a voice off screen. Mick then continues] “That’s true. Tequila is an actual writer, and she writes on one of the boards I contribute to, but she doesn’t write porn. She just writes comments on my fiction. Actually, her comments might be more popular than my stories! Yeah, she writes under the name Cindy-be...”
[FreshStart off camera] “MICK!! Mick! Mick. Buddy. Just once…I mean JUST! ONCE! Can you possibly say the words that are actually in the script? I wrote them for a FUCKING REASON! CUT!!”
"Mother, Father, Sister, Brother"
Credits:
A FreshOne Presentation
PRODUCED BY JOHN C. WAVEY
Associate Producer, Michael Bay
Cast:
Michaelis Thanis…………………. Shiloh Nouvel ‘s dad (Looks like a leading man, acts like a character actor)
Tequila Deekupps………………. Mrs. Geoffrey Arend
Jamie………………………………….. wait for it….himself! The French stuff took a bit of work.
Bernini………………………………… also himself. The barking DIDN’T need any work.
[Suggest an actress for Adrianna! As for the rest, they’re the same as Rogue Sum. Check ‘em out. Guess the references. Tell your friends.]
Assistant script editor: John C. Wavey
German catering by “Looking for Sugar”.
Special security consultant, Deep Thrust.
Written and Directed by Sir Alfred J. FreshStart, KBE
For the last time, this is dedicated to that Special Someone.
[Hugs and kisses]Although, she’s too busy to read this stuff, because I think she’s starting some kind of “Goat Yoga” retreat thing.
I'd like to thank the Big Kahuna, Xleglover, for his wonderful fiction which inspired me, and for his encouraging attitude towards fan fiction.
__________
[Background music: Scarlatti "Sonata In D Major" played on Moog synthesizer by Wendy/Walter Carlos]
[Voice over]
[Matt]: “So, Fresh! I think I’m starting to get all the little details. The ending with me and Mel was ambiguous, right? Then the bunnies, they’re like fertility references, right? They kinda comment on all the sex and reproduction in the whole story. Oh! And the carrot that Mel bites is like a phallus symbol, right? And biting it is her way of…”
[FreshStart]: “Yes, yes! But did you notice that the carrot at the end was a BABY carrot? I tried and tried, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how, at a picnic, Mel could possibly whip out a pencil.”
[Matt [laughs]]: “I see…[stops laughing] wait a minute! Are you saying that I’m some kind of pencil di…”
[FreshStart]: “SCENE!”
===
If I fell in love with you
Would you promise to be true
And help me understand
‘Cause I've been in love before
And I found that love was more
Than just holding hands
If I give my heart to you
I must be sure
From the very start
That you would love me more than her
If I trust in you oh please
Don't run and hide
If I love you too oh please
Don't hurt my pride like her
‘Cause I couldn't stand the pain
And I would be sad if our new love was in vain
So I hope you see that I
Would love to love you
And that she will cry
When she learns that we are two
‘Cause I couldn't stand the pain
And I would be sad if our new love was in vain
So I hope you see that I
Would love to love you
And that she will cry
When she learns that we are two
If I fell in love with you
+++++++++++++
[Scene: Steven Spears bedroom where Julia had spent that sticky night]
Steven Spears was on his back, in bed with hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. Things weren’t bad at all, he thought. He was going to have a kid with one of the hottest women on the planet and although the situation looked complicated, it was actually quite simple for him. His mother was already packed for France and would be busy and fuss, but then, there wouldn’t be anything for HIM to do. Everyone would then get off his back about “growing up”, about starting a family and all of that fucking bullshit. He’d have women doing everything he didn’t want to do—it would be easy. On top of that, Jules’ little breasts were growing and, with his urging, she would get back to the gym and turn into some even hotter Julia-two-point-oh version. He grinned in anticipation. Of course, she’d have to get her tubes tied.
He rolled to his side and looked at the back of the other body on the bed. He admired the curves outlined by the sheet and reached out his hand to trace from the narrow waste and up and over the wide hip. Then his hand slid down and he cupped the inviting ass. Things weren’t actually bad at all. She was curvier than Julia, and most-importantly she wasn’t giving him any ‘relationship’ shit. He was surprised, but found it actually rather interesting, the way she had started taking charge last night. He grinned and his cock began to swell…again. What was her name?
The woman had been awake for some time thinking about the situation. When the hand started rubbing her body, she smiled. She knew just how to handle and get whatever she wanted from grown-up little boys who thought they were God’s Gift. And there was something she saw in this one… She’d have to thank the contact who suggested the hookup. Yes, it was going to be fun. First, she’d get him to take her strap-on in one end and then the other. And then, eventually...
Her hand slid beneath her pillow to make sure the very sharp object and the pills were still there. She’d have plenty of time to get to those in the days to come. Christine smiled to herself and thought, there is a very special bond between a man and the woman who castrates him. They would have that bond.
[Fin]
FINALE: More than just holding hands OR Revenge is a dish…named Christine
The three other occupants of Normand Charlès' office were quiet a moment trying to let Julia recover.
Matt asked her quietly, “How did Steven’s sperm get to Alexandre, Julia?”
Julia looked wildly around the office, as if she was unable to comprehend what was going on.
“Julia, you had the sample-holder in the fridge,” said Alexandre. “How did a prophylactic from Steven get into it?”
“In the fridge?” asked Matt. “I thought it was supposed to be in some super-cold container—that sperm samples had to be super-frozen.”
“We don’t use sperm as sperm,” the other man replied. “As I’ve explained, we just need to isolate a DNA sample. Our method is a lot easier for couples to store the material before use.”
“Oh my god!” exclaimed Julia suddenly understanding. One hand went to her mouth while the other grabbed Matt’s arm as she said, “I’m so sorry, Baby. Steven found the container in the fridge and…” Her eyes looked down, “I explained, I was going to use it with you for something…”
“You’re sure you didn’t explain what it was really for?” asked Normand. Julia emphatically shook her head, no.
“There was one prophylactic in the container of a different sort,” said Alexandre. “It had much more in it, so I used that one as it naturally would be easier to ensure I had a good sample.”
“No, no, no,” said Julia to herself. “He must have added that to the container himself in order to get back at…” She looked at Matt and her eyes welled up. “Oh, Baby. I am sooo sorry.” Matt’s face went red and she cried, “I swear I didn’t tell him about our treatments!”
Normand cleared his throat, “First, we need to get an official sample from this man. What we have was obtained in a rather unorthodox method and doesn’t have a clear, shall we say, provenance.” He glanced sideways at his partner. “But Alexandre is fully confident that this man is the father. Once that is confirmed, at this point, we are under 20 weeks of gestation, so if you wish to terminate because it is unwanted…”
“NO!” yelled Julia. “I can’t! I just can’t—it’s not the baby’s fault!” She clutched Matt as tears formed in her eyes as she pleaded, “Mathew! Please tell them! We can’t…”
“Sh,” said Matt holding his wife, trying to calm her down. “I don’t think that we need to consider that as an option,” he said to the two men. “Julia couldn’t do that—she will take the baby to term.” If it's possible, Normand looked grateful, yet conflicted.
Alexandre then spoke up. “We have already had enough ethical issues with this situation,” he said. “I must insist that the biological father be officially identified, contacted and informed.”
“No!” said Julia. “Can’t we just pretend…”
“I am afraid not,” interrupted Normand. “Alexandre is correct. In fact, I must insist that we have a conference, here, together with this man, in order to be able to report back with clear conscience to the ethics committee.”
Alexandre nodded and continued, “This man may wish to be part of the child’s life. Or, if you decide to put it up for adoption, he may wish to have custody.”
“No!” Julia screeched.
Alexandre continued, “The child also has a right to know who his biological father is. There are medical and psychological benefits to a child from that knowledge. While it may open up a potential mess, when someone brings a child into the world, one has to do the right thing.”
“On a positive note,” he looked straight at Matt and continued, “I know someone who became pregnant from someone other than her partner. She and the partner worked through it and he became the child’s father in all practical ways.”
Julia slumped in defeat. Then she looked up at Matt with streaming eyes, “Baby, you must know this isn’t what I wanted! It isn’t. It isn’t. It’s Steven’s fault.”
“Is this like a case of rape?” asked Matt to no one in particular. “There was no consent and…”
“Mon Dieu!” yelled Normand. “True, there is lack of consent, but from what we understand, there is no intentionality. I very much doubt…”
“What about rape by deception or by fraud?” asked Matt.
“Oh, God,” wailed Julia, “Baby, no! This is so hard as it is. We can’t do that!”
+++
A few nights later, while Julia was showering, Matt was reading on line:
“The law stipulates that both parents are financially responsible for a child. This applies regardless of whether the parents are married, live together, or are separated, divorced, or otherwise do not have an ongoing relationship.
“Generally, the court will give that individual a chance to obtain a DNA or blood test. If they refuse to be tested, the court may assume that they are the biological father, particularly if there is no evidence provided establishing that they are not.
“However, individuals involved in paternity disputes should be aware that the court will review all evidence, not just DNA testing, and based on the totality of that evidence, will make an ultimate declaration about the child’s father.
“Section 31 of the Family Law Act expressly recognizes a legal obligation to support children that may not be biologically related to a “parent”. Under the Act, a person has an obligation to provide support for his or her child, regardless of whether the child is a biological child, an adopted child, or a child to which the person has demonstrated a “settled intention” to treat as a member of their family.
“Under s. 8 of the Children’s Law Reform Act, factors that establish a presumption of paternity are:
"• The person is married to the mother of the child at the time the child was born;
(Matt skipped down)
"• The person was living with the mother of the child “in a relationship of some permanence” at the time of the birth of the child or the child was born within 300 days after they stopped living together;
“Where there is a paternity dispute, the best course of action would be to consult with a family lawyer and to obtain a paternity test….”
Matt shook his head and thought, “Why am I even reading this? I’m not living in a ‘Burn The Bitch’ story.” Then he stopped. But what if Steven wants to be recognized as the baby’s biological father? What recourse would Matt have? What kind of life would the baby have being surrounded by parents like Julia and Steven?
As Julia entered the room, Matt closed down the page on his tablet. She dropped beside him, leaned her head on his shoulder and began to cry. “This isn’t the happy ending I planned,” she sobbed. “It’s all my fault!”
“Sh. We’ve been through this. It’s nothing you did.”
“Yes it is. You said so. First, you said I must have done it deliberately...”
“Jules, I was angry, that was…”
“Then you said, if I hadn’t gone and done it behind your back this couldn’t…”
“Sh. Sh. You didn’t do this, he did. What’s done is done, and you have to concentrate on having a healthy baby. You need to stop this—for the sake of the baby.” He was searching for ways to cheer her up and deflect her. “Has Adrianna been thinking of names for her baby?”
Immediately, he cursed himself—he was trying to distract his wife but he could see where this might go.
Jules face broke into a luminous, beatific smile and she said, “Valery Julianna Charlès. Do you know that Valery was the name of Ada’s fiancé?”
“No idea.”
“She’ll call Ada, ‘Maman’ and she’ll call me, ‘Mommy’.” She was quiet for a moment. “What about the name of our baby?” That was exactly what Matt had dreaded.
“Jules, I don’t think that’s my call.”
“Why not? He’s our baby. I was thinking of Paul Matthew Adams. What do you think?”
Matt winced. “Again, how can I make such an important decision for another man’s child?” Paul was Matt’s father.
“He’s YOUR child!” Clearly irritated she said, “I don’t want to call him Christopher.” He was Julia’s estranged father.
“Can’t he have two names that are completely his own?” He was holding back, as he could just imagine the fireworks if he said, ‘Steven’.
Matt could feel his shirt beneath Julia’s cheek getting wet.
+++
Over the following days, Jules’ suggestive messages to Matt returned and with a wry expression, he noticed a definite pattern.
One showed a naked woman, with hand on her belly, looking at the camera with the caption, “Sweetie, if he gives me a baby bump, do you promise to jack off on it every day? I’ve heard that it helps with stretch marks.”
Another picture showed a very pregnant woman in profile with the caption, “It’s not yours and you’re okay with that. In fact, you’re more than ok, you love it.”
A similar one had, “Baby, I know pregnancy was never part of your cuckold fantasies. I am so very proud of you for choosing to raise this other man’s child as if it were your own.”
Yet another had a GIF of a couple obviously having sex. It said, “My husband knows that I am pregnant by another man. I feel so incredibly sexy making love to him, knowing that he knows and he is not only fine with it, but he is totally turned on.”
The last caption Matt read said, “Raising another man’s child with love, the cuck dad does as well or better than the biological dad.”
Seething, Matt erased everything and after that, he erased anything that had a picture, without reading it.
Soon, a new pattern in the Adams’ house began: Matt was home less-and-less and Jules was out more-and-more. Adrianna insisted Jules always go home, but once a week, Steven was at the condo when Matt finally arrived home, late from work. With a smirk, Steven always left after a short stay.
One day, Matt got a call and made it home after a normal day’s work. As soon as the door was open he could look down the hall into the master bedroom. The window blinds were partly closed and with the descending sun, there were golden bars of light filling the room. He was surprised, as Adrianna weakly smiled at him from the bed, sitting up, with Julia lying against her, with her head on Ada's chest. Julia’s eyes were closed as the other woman gently stoked the short blond hair. Both women were in street clothes, in fact Julia looked like she was still dressed for work.
The French woman leaned slightly and said quietly, “Hoolia, Mathew is here.”
Julia with obvious effort opened her eyes briefly, sighed and closed them again. Shifting in order to gently get out from under the other woman, Adrianna kissed the blond head and said, “Remember, I’m going to have your baby. Can you feel where you are growing inside me?” There was another kiss. “I’ll be going now, since you’re in good hands.” With her human cushion pulling out from under her, Julia slid down onto the bed, without otherwise moving.
Adrianna walked to the door and without a sound beckoned Matt to follow out into the hall, quietly pulling the door closed behind them.
“Her nausea is very bad but I’m hoping she gets over it. She called me so you wouldn’t have to leave work.” Matt nodded understanding. “But I knew you would want to know.”
She looked at Matt and then she surprised him by pulling him into her for a hug. “This isn’t what was supposed to happen,” she said over Matt’s shoulder. “This was supposed to be YOUR baby. The Steven sickness was going away. We have to fight for her now. I hate my brother for insisting that horrible man know the truth.” An idea came to her, but she would deal with that later. Pulling back slightly, she looked into Matt’s eyes. “There’s something else: I’m going back to France to have my baby, it will keep my family happy. I have to go soon or I won’t be able to fly.” She paused, waiting for Matt. He understood.
“She’s going to France with you,” he said. The woman nodded. She again looked at him expectantly.
“By the time you’ve had your baby, it will be too late for her to fly back, so her baby will also be born in France,” he said. “I doubt she would have wanted to leave you and the baby anyway.” The woman gave a half-hearted smile and nodded, then she frowned and squeezed Matt’s upper arms.
“You didn’t deserve any of this,” she said. “You are such a good man. Come to France with us.”
“I’ll lose my job if I leave for that long and we can’t afford that.”
“My father can find you a position. It will be a good job.”
“Are you coming back?”
“Oui, I will be back with my baby. My future will be my own and it will be here.” She could see the question in Matt’s face. “No, Hoolia and I will not make a home together. Her path is with a man.” She squeezed Matt’s arms. “A good man. And I must make a life with a partner of my own. Hoolia and I have a very special bond, but we are not meant to live together as wife and wife.” She looked deeply into his eyes. “Every baby needs to have good role models, so I hope I can count on you to be one for my baby.”
He ignored the question. “Please understand that I truly appreciate the offer but I have to make my own way. Here. Just like you. I’m sure you understand.”
She nodded, then pulled him into her again and put her arms around him. “You will come later for the birth?”
A dagger went through her heart when he hesitated before mumbling, “Sure….of course...”
She pulled back again and aided by her height, she looked slightly down and kissed his brow. “A bientot.” Then she left him standing there.
Matt cracked open the bedroom door and peered in, Julia hadn’t moved. After making herbal tea for his wife, he took it to her and slid onto the bed, into the space under Julia that had been vacated by Adrianna.
Julia clutched him as if her life depended on it and she started to quietly cry. “This shouldn’t have happened.” With red, wet eyes, she looked up at Matt. “I am so, so sorry.” She began to sob. His wife wiped her nose with the sleeve of his shirt. “Did Ada tell you that we’re going to France?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do? I need you there with me.”
He sighed and was quiet for a while. “I can’t come to France to stay…for long—I just can’t take that much time off work and I can’t function in French and we can’t live off the Charlès. It just wouldn’t be right.”
Jules lifted herself up to look at him. “Her baby’s half mine, so yes we can. Please, you have to be there. They offered…”
“YOU can live off the Charlès,” he emphasized. “I have nothing to do with Adrianna’s baby.” He silently said to himself, and nothing to do with yours either. “You’ll be in good hands. When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know yet,” she replied. “I suppose I’ll come back when Ada comes back as her pregnancy is ahead of mine.”
“She says you won’t be living together.”
“We will in France, but not when we return,” she looked at him. “When I come back, I’m going to be living with my husband and my son…and…” She looked down.
“Your sperm donor?” said Matt bitterly, immediately regretting it.
He saw the tears start again and although he felt for Julia, he had no idea what to say, so he hugged her.
++++
In the big meeting room in the office where ‘Alan’ had worked, the visage scowled from the screen.
“Where is he?” boomed the visage.
Everyone in the room shuffled uncomfortably. No one spoke.
“If I have to ask again, everyone in that room will suffer the consequences.”
There was a low murmur and eventually one voice spoke up, “We have no idea.”
“What do you know?”
Again, there was a low murmur and eventually the same voice said, “Just before he left, he typed in the command ‘run sum’—as in addition. Then he typed the command ‘transfer’. Ever since then, the performance of the system has been slowly deteriorating and our technical people cannot explain it. AME is now making 10 dollars for every dollar we are making. As well, 5 million US dollars have disappeared from our books. We traced it with every resource we have and lost the trail when it ambiguously branched to either Nigeria or Switzerland.”
“You will find him,” boomed the visage, “and you will fix the system and you will recover that money, or each and every one of you in that room will suffer the fate that was meant for him.” The screen instantly went black.
++++
Sometime later, Julia was finishing her packing and had opened her top draw to see if there was anything she’d forgotten. She spotted the piece of paper under everything and stopped. Pulling the sheet out, she unfolded it, read it again and her eyes grew moist. She remembered it vividly, it was something she’d copied down so long ago and so much had happened since.
Matt heard something and poked his head into the bedroom. “Jewels? You okay?”
With her back to her husband, Jen straightened up and the tears immediately stopped. “Yes. I’m fine.” But before Matt withdrew, Julia suddenly ripped the page. It was a savage act, full of violence and silent fury. In an instant, it was over. She then carelessly threw the remains of the page at the waste basket in the corner. “I’m fine,” she repeated then turned and pushed past Matt out of the room.
The husband, puzzled, glanced over at the waste basket and then followed his wife.
They took a limo to the airport. There was no talk as Jules looked out the window, clutching hard to Matt’s hand the entire distance. Matt passed the time privately thumbing his phone, one earpiece in place. One song deeply stabbed him as he sat there listening and looking out as the ugly highway rolled past:
“I don't like the way he's looking at you
“I'm starting to think you want him too
“Am I crazy? Have I lost ya?
“Even though I know you love me, can't help it
“I turn my chin music up
“And I'm puffing my chest
“I'm getting red in the face
“You can call me obsessed
“It's not your fault that they hover
“I mean no disrespect
“It's my right to be hellish
”I still get jealous
“'Cause you're too sexy, beautiful
“And everybody wants a taste
“That's why (that's why)
“I still get jealous”
Once at the airport, Matt escorted Julia into the departures area to find Adrianna already there in a wheel chair, with Normand Jr. standing behind her. As they made small talk, Steven showed up with an older woman in tow. Rather, she was towing Steven.
“Oh no,” said Jules with ill-concealed dismay. “It’s Steven’s Mother!”
“Oh Julia!” cried the woman. “This is so exciting. You look lovely! Steven will tell you that I’m ready to come to France at the drop of a hat. I just can’t wait to see…” She paused. “I just can’t wait to help! Here! It’s something I think you should have.” She gave Jules a wrapped, flat box.
The remainder of the short wait was taken up with a strained politeness for everyone except the enthusiastic old woman and Steven, who just stood and smirked.
Eventually, it was time to go. As Mrs. Spears kept on with her chattering to Adrianna and Normand, she didn’t notice Julia’s perfunctory peck on Steven’s cheek, or the way she clutched tightly to Matt until Adrianna touched her elbow.
After the stress of moving through the airport, saying a tearful goodbye to Matt, taking leave of Steven and his Mother, interminable waiting, then boarding, Julia sat beside Ada in the airplane. She pulled the gift out of her carry-on thinking, “Thank God it hadn’t set security off”. She carefully unwrapped it as Ada distractedly fiddled with the screen in front of her.
“Oh,” exclaimed Julia. She nudged Ada and showed her the small, framed picture. “It’s Steven when he was little.”
Ada, with a bemused look, said, “My, my, he was good looking even back then. How ironic that he’s sitting on a pony—so young and already one horse’s ass sitting on another. At least you’ll have a beautiful baby.” Then she rubbed her own belly. “But not as beautiful as this one.”
Hoolia smiled and thought to herself, maybe this isn’t so bad. She certainly would have a ‘sexy son’ and he would have a Good Father—who just wouldn’t be his biological father. She smiled, leaned her head on her companion’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
++++
Weeks later, Jesse Patterson and ‘Old man’ Jacobs walked together out of Jacob’s office. They had completed the paper work for the Pension Plan to invest in the pool for AME.
“I actually wanted him to join us but you can see him over here,” said Jacobs as he led the other man to the desk of Michaelis Thanis. “Oh, I wonder where he is?” said Jacobs at the empty desk.
“It’s called ‘management by wandering around’,” chuckled the other man. “He didn’t invent it, but he pretty much perfected it.” As Jacobs turned to lead Jesse out of the office, without anyone seeing, Jesse pulled an envelope out of his portfolio and dropped it onto Mick’s empty chair.
++++
Later that day, Mathew Adams was back at the airport but this time, he was sitting in the departures lounge, playing with his phone. While cleaning out old messages he found one from Julia: “Falling in love is easy, but staying in love is very special.”
Matt noted that it was very unfortunate that right afterwards he found another message from her. It was of a naked couple with the man’s head between the woman’s legs. It had the caption: “I want you to know that I love you so much, but I love him too. He is like some big, strong, wild animal who mount's me at will. But you're like my cute little kitty who can lick me when he's finished.”
Both items were immediately erased.
Matt then looked at something he’d been musing over. It was another post from the music program ‘Ultra Latino’ which read, “If you don't build your dreams, someone will hire you to build theirs.” That made him remember the conversation with Mel.
Then he played a song by Postmodern Jukebox, which Mick had sent him:
“You have so many relationships in this life
“Only one or two will last
“You go through all the pain and strife
“Then you turn your back and they're gone so fast
…
“So hold on the ones who really care
“In the end they'll be the only ones there
“And when you get old and start losing your hair
“Can you tell me who will still care
“Can you tell me who will still care?
…
“Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose
“You can plant any one of those
“Keep planting to find out which one grows
“It's a secret no one knows
“It's a secret no one knows
…
“Can you tell me? oh
“No you can't 'cause you don't know
“Can you tell me? oh yeah
“You say you can but you don't know
“Can you tell me? oh (Which flower's going to grow?)
“No you can't 'cause you don't know
“Can you tell me? (If it's going to be a daisy or a rose?)
“You say you can but you don't know
“Can you tell me? oh (Which flower's going to grow?)
“No you can't 'cause you don't know
“Can you tell me?
“You say you can but you don't know”
He was still for a while absorbing the song. Then he reread a different message from Mick, to which Matt had returned a number of times during the past weeks. It read:
“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of the things not meant for you. – Variation on a Fake Buddha Quote from Jack Kornfield’s Buddha’s Little Instruction Book.”
Matt looked up and scanned the big board—it would be another 15 minutes before he started boarding his flight. With a deep breath, he looked back to his phone, brought up another screen, paused as if making a final decision, then hit ‘send.’
++++
While Matt sat in the airport, Mick stared at Mel’s face on his screen, blinking and trying to think of the ramifications of what the woman had just said.
“So, you’re saying that the typo wasn’t the problem with the DHI trade?” Mel nodded. Mick continued, “But you’re saying that using the news feed, HERMES anticipated the tariffs against Dominion Heavy Industries?”
“That’s right. Over time, the feed had other tariffs and AME sold DHI short because it saw the correlation between the tariffs and the stocks going down. It just thought that DHI was the only stock worth shorting at the time, based on liquidity.”
Mick closed his eyes and shook his head. “Wait.” He started ticking off on his fingers in front of the screen as he talked. “One, HERMES has to understand what tariffs do to stocks. Two, it has to understand which countries need to apply the tariff in order to do the damage. Three, it had to make the connection between the tariffs applied and the specific company—in other words it had to know the actual business DHI was in. And four, it had be able to see that the tariffs were coming WEEKS before they were applied, which is something NO ONE ELSE PICKED UP ON?”
“Yeah, that pretty much covers it, but you’re making it sound implausible.”
“Ya think maybe I’m making it sound implausible…because it fucking IS implausible? Nope. Not buying. What the fuck are you smoking out there on the left coast? Oh no, don’t tell me: you’ve been into Granny’s meds. Somebody needs to come and babysit YOU.” He paused before finishing, “Well, goodnight. I have to make another phone call regarding some…ah…special work to try and re-balance the world. Then I’m going to go and shave with Occam’s razor and then I’m going to send you a link so you can watch the movie, Colossus: The Forbin Project. You’ll notice that it’s clearly labelled ‘science fiction’.”
Mel’s face broke into her dazzling smile. “I’m sure it is. But this isn’t. And by the condition of your face, you’re been shaving with that brand of razor for a while.” Then she started giggling.
++++
On the other side of an ocean, Julia Adams was in a state of quiet euphoria. She looked across the bed at the beautiful face of the woman she loved—the mother of Julia’s baby. She was sleeping. The calm serenity of the face had an almost Buddha-like quality. Julia looked down at the baby between them and smiled. She’d counted the perfect little fingers and toes so many times while lying there, admiring this other special, innocent, and perfect, little miracle angel.
Then she heard her phone buzz on the nightstand behind her.
With deliberate care and considerable effort, she slid her swollen body off the bed and maneuvered her legs and hips under the weight of the other baby within her. She shuffled slightly to pick up her phone, arching her back and placing a hand on it for support. A message from Matt! She opened it and frowned. It was a picture that looked like a crude jig saw puzzle but the picture wasn’t very good and the image was overly shiny.
Then she understood. It was a piece of paper that had been clumsily ripped up, and then put back together with a crude layer of adhesive tape. She read the familiar writing on the page, a tear rolled down her cheek and she quietly began to sob. It was something she’d copied some time ago, and so much had happened since. It read:
“There’s a big difference between:
"Who we love,
"who we settle for
"and who we’re meant for.”
++++
Some days later, Matt sat on a blanket on the ground. Looking at the clear sky, he realized just how relaxed he felt. He did an inward check and…his stomach was…fine. There was no churning, no discomfort, in fact, no evidence of stress at all. How long had it been since he felt that? Or didn’t feel that? Glancing away, he spotted a small rabbit exploring the edge of the clearing.
Just then, a plastic glass suddenly appeared in front of his face, filled with a golden liquid, busy with tiny bubbles. Matt accepted the sparkling wine and turned to Mellissa Rougier, the almost complete-opposite of his wife with bee-sting lips, glowing, chestnut-colored hair and a tall body flowing with curves. He couldn’t look away from the beautiful face that hid behind the thick-rimmed glasses. She was brilliant and they had so much in common.
“Mick said not to worry about the baby,” said the woman. Matt’s face cracked into a smile of anticipation before she continued.
“He said that people say Jesus had two fathers, and he didn’t turn out too bad.” Matt’s lips pursed as Mel continued, “He also figures he knows what the next step should be.”
“I’m not sure I really want to know.”
The woman pushed her glasses up with her free hand then she put the hand down onto the blanket to support herself. “He says that you should be the one having the next baby. It shouldn’t be too hard for Normand to figure it out. But, Mick says Normand is going to have to come up with a whole new set of pre-natal exercises for you, since the act of giving birth is going to be like passing a football down your dick.”
Matt shook his head, then slyly slid his free hand across the blanket and covered Mel’s resting hand. “You know, I’d have no problem doing that.” He paused. “I’d have no problem at all, as long as you’re the father.”
Mel pulled her hand back, fished into a plastic container and pulled out a baby carrot. The container rested on a clear envelope containing a copy of CHUM Chart #1 from 1957. The woman lifted the carrot to her mouth, and then with a flourish, loudly snapped the end off with her teeth.
“I’m not sure about that. Isn’t there still a MRS. Adams somewhere, expecting her second child? Let’s also think about the last crop of fathers: one is a blond scheming bitch who has no dick and the other…well, the other is nothing BUT a dick. No, I don’t think fatherhood is my thing.”
She pointedly stared into Matt’s eyes and arched an eyebrow before continuing, “However, Mick also said he figures it’s about time for someone else to ‘grow up, grow a pair, man-up, get into the game’ and all of that—how did he put it—‘real manly stuff’.” Then her face softened and brightened into That Smile.
Matt was momentarily mesmerized, but something occurred to him and with a frown he managed to ask, “Does Mick really have a shotgun?”
“Oh dear. What gave you that idea?”
_________________________________________
[spoken]
“That’s right! If you come down to Kitsilano and go down to Jericho Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,
“If you follow the west path you’ll find a whole group of little bunnies that love to eat things
“Yes, you see there’s many of them and they’re all hungry
“So pack a lunch and be prepared to share
“And if you don’t see any bunnies while you’re visiting us
“They’ll give you all your money back. Ha ha ha ha!
--
[sung]
“The wild bunnies of Kitsilano
“Are very happy but kind of broke
“So that offer to return your money
“Was just a funny bunny kind of joke”
--
“The wild bunnies of Kitsilano
“Love to skip and hop and skip some more
“And if we all follow their example
“Surely we could put an end to war”
--
“The wild bunnies of Kitsilano
“And the duckies and the dogs
“And the children are in the palm fronds
“And the sea [pause]…
“and the sand [pause]…
“and the…
”Logggggggggggggggggs!”
[Head shot of Bernini] “Whoof!”
===
[Background music: Wendy Carlos, who was originally born Walter Carlos, playing Scarlatti "Sonata In G Major" on Moog synthesizer]
[Outtake, Mick facing the camera in a restaurant] “So, I didn’t tell you that in my spare time I write porn. It’s true. I write under the name of Mike Crosse Jambe-Amourex. The last name, of course, translates to Cross-leg-lov…”
[Interrupted by a voice off screen. Mick then continues] “That’s true. Tequila is an actual writer, and she writes on one of the boards I contribute to, but she doesn’t write porn. She just writes comments on my fiction. Actually, her comments might be more popular than my stories! Yeah, she writes under the name Cindy-be...”
[FreshStart off camera] “MICK!! Mick! Mick. Buddy. Just once…I mean JUST! ONCE! Can you possibly say the words that are actually in the script? I wrote them for a FUCKING REASON! CUT!!”
"Mother, Father, Sister, Brother"
Credits:
A FreshOne Presentation
PRODUCED BY JOHN C. WAVEY
Associate Producer, Michael Bay
Cast:
Michaelis Thanis…………………. Shiloh Nouvel ‘s dad (Looks like a leading man, acts like a character actor)
Tequila Deekupps………………. Mrs. Geoffrey Arend
Jamie………………………………….. wait for it….himself! The French stuff took a bit of work.
Bernini………………………………… also himself. The barking DIDN’T need any work.
[Suggest an actress for Adrianna! As for the rest, they’re the same as Rogue Sum. Check ‘em out. Guess the references. Tell your friends.]
Assistant script editor: John C. Wavey
German catering by “Looking for Sugar”.
Special security consultant, Deep Thrust.
Written and Directed by Sir Alfred J. FreshStart, KBE
For the last time, this is dedicated to that Special Someone.
[Hugs and kisses]Although, she’s too busy to read this stuff, because I think she’s starting some kind of “Goat Yoga” retreat thing.
I'd like to thank the Big Kahuna, Xleglover, for his wonderful fiction which inspired me, and for his encouraging attitude towards fan fiction.
__________
[Background music: Scarlatti "Sonata In D Major" played on Moog synthesizer by Wendy/Walter Carlos]
[Voice over]
[Matt]: “So, Fresh! I think I’m starting to get all the little details. The ending with me and Mel was ambiguous, right? Then the bunnies, they’re like fertility references, right? They kinda comment on all the sex and reproduction in the whole story. Oh! And the carrot that Mel bites is like a phallus symbol, right? And biting it is her way of…”
[FreshStart]: “Yes, yes! But did you notice that the carrot at the end was a BABY carrot? I tried and tried, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how, at a picnic, Mel could possibly whip out a pencil.”
[Matt [laughs]]: “I see…[stops laughing] wait a minute! Are you saying that I’m some kind of pencil di…”
[FreshStart]: “SCENE!”
===
If I fell in love with you
Would you promise to be true
And help me understand
‘Cause I've been in love before
And I found that love was more
Than just holding hands
If I give my heart to you
I must be sure
From the very start
That you would love me more than her
If I trust in you oh please
Don't run and hide
If I love you too oh please
Don't hurt my pride like her
‘Cause I couldn't stand the pain
And I would be sad if our new love was in vain
So I hope you see that I
Would love to love you
And that she will cry
When she learns that we are two
‘Cause I couldn't stand the pain
And I would be sad if our new love was in vain
So I hope you see that I
Would love to love you
And that she will cry
When she learns that we are two
If I fell in love with you
+++++++++++++
[Scene: Steven Spears bedroom where Julia had spent that sticky night]
Steven Spears was on his back, in bed with hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. Things weren’t bad at all, he thought. He was going to have a kid with one of the hottest women on the planet and although the situation looked complicated, it was actually quite simple for him. His mother was already packed for France and would be busy and fuss, but then, there wouldn’t be anything for HIM to do. Everyone would then get off his back about “growing up”, about starting a family and all of that fucking bullshit. He’d have women doing everything he didn’t want to do—it would be easy. On top of that, Jules’ little breasts were growing and, with his urging, she would get back to the gym and turn into some even hotter Julia-two-point-oh version. He grinned in anticipation. Of course, she’d have to get her tubes tied.
He rolled to his side and looked at the back of the other body on the bed. He admired the curves outlined by the sheet and reached out his hand to trace from the narrow waste and up and over the wide hip. Then his hand slid down and he cupped the inviting ass. Things weren’t actually bad at all. She was curvier than Julia, and most-importantly she wasn’t giving him any ‘relationship’ shit. He was surprised, but found it actually rather interesting, the way she had started taking charge last night. He grinned and his cock began to swell…again. What was her name?
The woman had been awake for some time thinking about the situation. When the hand started rubbing her body, she smiled. She knew just how to handle and get whatever she wanted from grown-up little boys who thought they were God’s Gift. And there was something she saw in this one… She’d have to thank the contact who suggested the hookup. Yes, it was going to be fun. First, she’d get him to take her strap-on in one end and then the other. And then, eventually...
Her hand slid beneath her pillow to make sure the very sharp object and the pills were still there. She’d have plenty of time to get to those in the days to come. Christine smiled to herself and thought, there is a very special bond between a man and the woman who castrates him. They would have that bond.
[Fin]
Last edited by FreshStart on Thu Aug 23, 2018 7:04 pm, edited 2 times in total.
-
Suchen Zucker
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Spätburgunder und Jäger Schnitzel werden nach dem Film auf der Terrasse serviert.
-
FreshStart
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Beerenauslese wird serviert für diejenigen, die es zu schätzen wissen.
[A particular, sweet, expensive, German wine] My favorite.
________________
"Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen
"Thank you for all the joy and pain
"Picture shows, second balcony was the place we'd meet
"Second seat, go Dutch treat, you were sweet"
[A particular, sweet, expensive, German wine] My favorite.
________________
"Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen
"Thank you for all the joy and pain
"Picture shows, second balcony was the place we'd meet
"Second seat, go Dutch treat, you were sweet"
Last edited by FreshStart on Thu Aug 30, 2018 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
A great story FreshStart! Some intrigue, some pain, and some hope for a better future.
I thought the ending was good, but the add-on with Steven’s new companion was priceless! Perfect movie ending, especially with the reach under the pillow.
It does seem that Jewels thought she was giving Matt what he wanted with the texts/pics and Matt never told her he hated them. She couldn’t see things had changed and no longer could differentiate between reality and the game. I don’t really think she ever considered giving up Steven.
When Jewels made the decision to go to Europe without consulting Matt, it was clear he’d been relegated to the role of doormat. If Julia was really as upset with Steven’s treachery as she made it seem, she wouldn’t have seen Steven and his mother at the airport.
I’m glad Matt got away, though the ending scene with Jewels made me wonder if she’d be coming back for Matt at a future time.
Great job!
I thought the ending was good, but the add-on with Steven’s new companion was priceless! Perfect movie ending, especially with the reach under the pillow.
It does seem that Jewels thought she was giving Matt what he wanted with the texts/pics and Matt never told her he hated them. She couldn’t see things had changed and no longer could differentiate between reality and the game. I don’t really think she ever considered giving up Steven.
When Jewels made the decision to go to Europe without consulting Matt, it was clear he’d been relegated to the role of doormat. If Julia was really as upset with Steven’s treachery as she made it seem, she wouldn’t have seen Steven and his mother at the airport.
I’m glad Matt got away, though the ending scene with Jewels made me wonder if she’d be coming back for Matt at a future time.
Great job!
-
rh17
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
This is an ending I can get behind...hopefully Matt and Mel have 6 kids without the help of any turkey basters...if they're boys name them Keith, Gary, Darryl, Mookie, HoJo, and Jesse Orosco.
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FreshStart
Re: M+J in “Mother, Father, Sister, Brother” by FreshStart
Addendum #1: Happiest Man Alive...OR Balmy and Clod
The man stopped his bicycle and glanced over ‘the talent’ on Sugar Beach. He smiled and thought, on Monday the Canadian National Exhibition would close, which meant that it was over a year since he was here when his phone…
At that instant, his phone started playing a familiar song. He fished the phone out, to confirm on the screen which read, “Pretty Woman”. It was the first time either thing had happened on his phone.
“Hey funny girl,” he answered with a broad smile, “When did you add the ringtone and change your name on my phone?”
“When you were busy brushing Bernini,” said the sultry voice. “As you would normally ask: what’s the plan for tonight?”
“Pick me up at Cooper-Hatch. Phone me on arrival and I’ll let you in.”
“Working late?”
“Call it ‘de-working’ or ‘un-working’,” he cryptically replied. “Choose any place to eat.”
++++
It was very late when Michaelis Thanis was busy cleaning his things out of Mel’s old desk. He tossed an opened envelope onto the lap of Tequila Deekupps, who was sitting nearby in Matt’s chair, playing with Mick’s phone as she waited.
She pulled a wrapped bundle of money from the envelope and then she made a quick estimate of the total. After a whistle she asked, “Wow! What’s this?”
“Something delivered in such a fashion that I couldn’t refuse it and now I can’t return it,” replied Mick, not looking at her as he continued with what he was doing. “Now it’s a donation to your favorite charity.”
“Very nice! We’ll have to donate it on Monday or it’ll have to wait until we’re back.”
He turned to her and patted her hand, which was resting on the arm of the chair.
“Proof again of why you are such a good friend,” he said. “You’re obviously not a crook nor are you an ex-banker, otherwise you’d know about anti-money-laundering controls.” He turned back to his work and continued, “We’ll have to do some planning and move it around in small increments through multiple places.”
The woman dropped the envelope on the desk as if it burned her and cried, “Mick! Money laundering?!”
“Don’t’ worry my little chickadee, it’s not hot,” Mick chuckled. “I just don’t want any unnecessary questions since we won’t profit from it.”
Minutes later, the two walked to the end of the cubicle aisle and paused at a door marked, “Jacobs.” Mick tossed an envelope with ‘MT Card + keys’ scribbled across it onto the desk. They continued walking until they reached the AME/HERMES console where Mick gave it a cursory look. Spotting something, he said, “Very funny.”
Then the man held his elbow out to the woman and in his W.C. Fields voice said, “I've been worried about you, my little peachfuzz. Have you been loitering somewhere?”
“I've been learning things,” she replied, rolling her eyes and taking his arm.
“Unnecessary! You are the epitome of erudition... a double superlative. Can you handle it?”
“Yeah, and I can kick it around, too,” she said, swinging her hips and tossing her head.
“Come, I want to see Philadelphia before I die…” The woman shot him a stern look and as if that changed his mind, he boomed, “…the Punjab will do.”
Arm-in-arm ‘Balmy and Clod’ walked to the door. The man pushed the red ‘unlock’ button and they disappeared into the dark.
Behind them in the office, in the bottom corner of the console which Mick had examined, where AME/HERMES system-generated messages were displayed, it read:
“There is another.”
__________________________________________________
“Happiness is the measure of success
…
“You see me, I'z a man
“Love to play, love to jam
“You see me I'z a man
“I always happy once money in meh hand
”But I don't got no time for no worries
“I don't got no time for no stressin’
“I got rum on meh mind so ah’m ready
“To go on the road
…
“Ah come out to live meh life
“(Somebody say) live meh life
“Drink ah rum and live meh life
“I'm the happiest man alive”
The man stopped his bicycle and glanced over ‘the talent’ on Sugar Beach. He smiled and thought, on Monday the Canadian National Exhibition would close, which meant that it was over a year since he was here when his phone…
At that instant, his phone started playing a familiar song. He fished the phone out, to confirm on the screen which read, “Pretty Woman”. It was the first time either thing had happened on his phone.
“Hey funny girl,” he answered with a broad smile, “When did you add the ringtone and change your name on my phone?”
“When you were busy brushing Bernini,” said the sultry voice. “As you would normally ask: what’s the plan for tonight?”
“Pick me up at Cooper-Hatch. Phone me on arrival and I’ll let you in.”
“Working late?”
“Call it ‘de-working’ or ‘un-working’,” he cryptically replied. “Choose any place to eat.”
++++
It was very late when Michaelis Thanis was busy cleaning his things out of Mel’s old desk. He tossed an opened envelope onto the lap of Tequila Deekupps, who was sitting nearby in Matt’s chair, playing with Mick’s phone as she waited.
She pulled a wrapped bundle of money from the envelope and then she made a quick estimate of the total. After a whistle she asked, “Wow! What’s this?”
“Something delivered in such a fashion that I couldn’t refuse it and now I can’t return it,” replied Mick, not looking at her as he continued with what he was doing. “Now it’s a donation to your favorite charity.”
“Very nice! We’ll have to donate it on Monday or it’ll have to wait until we’re back.”
He turned to her and patted her hand, which was resting on the arm of the chair.
“Proof again of why you are such a good friend,” he said. “You’re obviously not a crook nor are you an ex-banker, otherwise you’d know about anti-money-laundering controls.” He turned back to his work and continued, “We’ll have to do some planning and move it around in small increments through multiple places.”
The woman dropped the envelope on the desk as if it burned her and cried, “Mick! Money laundering?!”
“Don’t’ worry my little chickadee, it’s not hot,” Mick chuckled. “I just don’t want any unnecessary questions since we won’t profit from it.”
Minutes later, the two walked to the end of the cubicle aisle and paused at a door marked, “Jacobs.” Mick tossed an envelope with ‘MT Card + keys’ scribbled across it onto the desk. They continued walking until they reached the AME/HERMES console where Mick gave it a cursory look. Spotting something, he said, “Very funny.”
Then the man held his elbow out to the woman and in his W.C. Fields voice said, “I've been worried about you, my little peachfuzz. Have you been loitering somewhere?”
“I've been learning things,” she replied, rolling her eyes and taking his arm.
“Unnecessary! You are the epitome of erudition... a double superlative. Can you handle it?”
“Yeah, and I can kick it around, too,” she said, swinging her hips and tossing her head.
“Come, I want to see Philadelphia before I die…” The woman shot him a stern look and as if that changed his mind, he boomed, “…the Punjab will do.”
Arm-in-arm ‘Balmy and Clod’ walked to the door. The man pushed the red ‘unlock’ button and they disappeared into the dark.
Behind them in the office, in the bottom corner of the console which Mick had examined, where AME/HERMES system-generated messages were displayed, it read:
“There is another.”
__________________________________________________
“Happiness is the measure of success
…
“You see me, I'z a man
“Love to play, love to jam
“You see me I'z a man
“I always happy once money in meh hand
”But I don't got no time for no worries
“I don't got no time for no stressin’
“I got rum on meh mind so ah’m ready
“To go on the road
…
“Ah come out to live meh life
“(Somebody say) live meh life
“Drink ah rum and live meh life
“I'm the happiest man alive”